Season X: Love You More
by NMI123
Summary: As Laura and Steve celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary, an unexpected guest arrives at the door. Will Laura and Steve be able to help this old friend while still keeping their relationships with each other and with their family on track or will their past prove to be too much to handle?


**Author's Note: Hey, y'all! I'm glad to be publishing something again. Sorry for the lengthy delay. Fair warning, it might not be what you expected. This episode of Season X takes place well into the future. In fact, it is May of 2019. This is the reason I published Season X as a series of separate stories, rather than one chapter-by-chapter piece. I like to have the freedom to jump around in the timeline. That's how I write. I have many episodes at different points in their lives at different stages in the drafting process. Season X is essentially my head canon, so I like to explore that at different points in Steve and Laura's lives. I will definitely go back to the earliest parts of their marriage. I have a killer family reunion episode in the works, and someday you will see many stories between those very early days and where they are in this story, but for now, I hope you're as excited as I am to see a glimpse into their future. You may even catch a few hints of stories that I've already begun. As always, thank you for reading and especially reviewing. It makes my day.**

"Laura Lee!" Steve called from the hot tub behind the house. "I'm getting lonely on my anniversary."

"Coming, Baby. One sec!" she called from the kitchen.

Laura exited the house a few minutes later with a bowl of strawberries in one hand, two champagne flutes in the other, and an extremely expensive bottle of champagne tucked under her arm. "Hi, Baby!" she cooed, pausing at the edge of the tub and smiling at him.

"Hi, Sweetums," he purred.

"Do you wanna open this for me?" she asked, handing him the bottle.

"Sweetheart, we're not gonna be needing any of that stuff. Just drop that robe on the ground and hop on Daddy's lap!" he ordered.

"Steve, it's our anniversary weekend. We'll get to that, but I wanna be romanced first," she pouted.

Steve sighed and accepted the bottle. He began to fiddle with the cork as he glanced up at her. "Is it just me, or did it used to be much easier to get you into bed?"

She laughed and sat on the edge of the tub. She popped a strawberry in her mouth. "Maybe you just used to be more naturally romantic," she countered.

He raised an eyebrow at her and finally popped the cork. "Hey, who did the shopping this week? Who do you think bought these aphrodisiacs? I'm plenty romantic, Sweetcheeks. I just wanted a quickie before we buckled down and let me shower in you in affection." He handed her her glass and took a sip of his own.

"It will be more fun if we wait," she challenged.

"You are such a little tease," he growled.

She leaned down and kissed his lips. "As I have been for twenty, wonderful years," she grinned.

"More like since kindergarten," he countered.

She sat up and looked down at him. "Twenty years," she sighed.

"Laura, Baby, please get in here with me. I'm getting impatient."

"Steve," she scolded.

"Please?" he begged. "I'm wearing a Speedo!"

She glanced down and bit her lip. "Oh, really?"

He nodded quickly, wiggling excitedly in his seat.

Laura reached down and tested the water. She ran her hand back and forth in it. Taking her sweet time. "Do you wanna see what I'm wearing?" she asked.

"YES!" he cried without hesitance.

She giggled and stood up. She dropped her robe to the ground, revealing her revealing bikini and her gorgeous body. It was all white. Thin strings were tied in bows around her back and neck, barely holding the thin fabric over her breasts. She turned around for him slowly, allowing him to take in the full picture. The bottom piece was also held together by tiny bows, and it was a G-string. She turned back to face him and sat on the edge of the tub again, dangling her dainty feet in. "Well?" she prompted.

He roared suddenly and yanked her into the water with him, right on his lap. He knocked the bottle of champagne over in the process. Laura cringed at the sound of the bottle breaking, knowing it was worth triple digits, but she quickly forgot about it as Steve began to struggle with the ties of her top. It wasn't like they couldn't afford it. He pulled her forward and buried his face in her cleavage, kissing her over and over as he pulled at the bows. She had tied them tightly, knowing he wouldn't wait long to ravage her.

She giggled as he motorboated her and nipped her out of frustration. "Be patient, Steve," she scolded. "Oh!" she jumped as he grabbed her butt, trying and failing to give her an underwater spanking.

Finally, he undid the tie behind her and yanked the bikini top high over her head, tossing it aside. He gawked at her perfect breasts. "Happy anniversary, Steve," she purred, reaching down and stroking his cheek.

He looked up at her face and smiled at her. "Twenty years ago, I undressed you for the first time."

She smiled brightly. "Twenty years ago last Wednesday," she corrected. "You were so nervous, but you're not nervous now, are you?"

He laughed and snorted. "Nervous? After twenty years? Heck no! You and I both know who and what these melons are for, don't we?" he bit his lip as he stared at her breasts again.

"Feeding our three beautiful children?" she proposed.

"They were good at that, but they haven't done that in years, and they're never gonna do it again. These are all mine now, Gorgeous. I don't ever have to share them again," he insisted, finally reaching out to touch them. "Gimme those big tits, Laura Lee," he growled as he cupped them.

"Oh, Steeeeeeve! It feels just as good as it did the first time!" she moaned.

"You look just as sexy as you did the first time," he agreed.

"Oh, Baby," she purred, pressing her chest into his face.

He moved to take her nipple into his mouth but stopped in his tracks when he heard the doorbell.

_Dingdong._ "A visitor has arrived," the smart house Steve had designed announced.

"Who is it?" Steve asked the house.

"Steve Urkel," the house replied matter-of-factly.

Steve rolled his eyes and looked back up at Laura. "Darn thing's on the fritz again, Baby. Just ignore it." He leaned forward toward her nipple, but she pulled away from him.

"Someone may really be out there though, Steve. The facial recognition could just be off. We should check."

"Laura," he complained.

_Dingdong. _"Your visitor is still waiting."

"It'll just take a second," she challenged.

"Fine, but you are going to stay right in this tub. Don't you even think about covering up. In fact, I'm gonna go check the door, and when I come back, I want my wife to be completely naked," he ordered as he climbed out of the tub and put on his robe. "Deal?"

"Yes, Sir," she teased, reaching below the water. A moment later, her G-string floated to the surface.

He growled primitively under his breath and turned away. Fantasies of taking her on their deck, under the stars, as he had many times before, raced through his mind as he walked down the long hallway from the backdoor to the front. He stopped at the main control panel by the front door. "Display Front Door Cam One," he ordered. His face appeared. "What on Earth?" he asked softly, until he saw himself reach forward and knock, more like pound, on the door. He leapt in the air when he really heard the sound at the door. He opened it wide immediately and gasped when he finally figured out what was going on. That wasn't his face at all, but it sure looked like him. "Stefan?" he asked in disbelief.

Stefan looked down at the ground, disappointed to see him. "Hey, Steve, is Laura around?"

Steve glared at him, slowly getting over the shock. "Yes, but today we're celebrating our twentieth anniversary, so you'll have to stop by another day, or preferably, never!" Steve stood firm. He didn't move to close the door as he may have in his younger days. This was his and Laura's house. He had designed it himself based off of Laura's descriptions. He had installed all of the tech with his own hands. Stefan had no right to barge in on their lives now or into their house.

"I really need to talk to her, Steve."

"About what?" he demanded.

"It's personal," he said tersely.

"She's my wife now, Stefan. I don't want you within a mile of her."

"That's really not your decision, Steve. She's a grown woman. If she wants to see me, she can."

Steve rolled his eyes and went to reply but paused when he heard her voice behind him.

"Baby, what's taking so long?" she purred as she came up behind him.

He turned to her quickly and looked her up and down. All she was wearing was that itty-bitty bikini. He ripped his robe from his body and wrapped her in it, revealing his tight, purple Speedo and obvious erection.

As Steve overreacted, Laura finally glanced up at their visitor. "Oh, my God," she breathed. Her stomach flipped, and her heart started to pound. She reached her cool, wet hands up to her burning face, pressing her hands to her cheeks and then her neck.

"Hi, Laura," Stefan said softly as he stepped inside. He took her immediately into his arms and kissed her cheek.

She hugged him back tightly. "Hi, Stefan!" she said brightly, burying her face in his neck as Steve watched in horror. She pulled back slightly and looked up at him, though by all accounts, he was still holding her. "What on Earth are you doing here?"

Stefan glanced at Steve. "Laura, is there any way we could speak in private?" He looked at Steve's Speedo and cringed.

Laura looked at Steve. Talking to Stefan in private was definitely not an option. She sighed. "I'm sorry, Stefan, but that really wouldn't be appropriate. Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Steve."

"I'm not here to make a move on you. I just need to talk to you," he pressed.

"We can talk in front of Steve," she insisted.

"No, you can't," Steve interrupted suddenly. "Laura, it's our twentieth anniversary. We're not spending it with him."

Laura looked back at Stefan. Steve had a point, but something was obviously wrong. Stefan looked thin and weak. He looked like he hadn't eaten in a month. His eyes were sunken, and rings surrounded them. She didn't know why he was here, but she knew he wouldn't have tracked her down out of the blue if he weren't in desperate need of help. Laura looked to Steve. "Steve, our anniversary was Wednesday. Today's no different than any other Saturday. If tonight doesn't go as planned because of this, I'll make it up to you, but I'm sure Stefan really needs to talk if he came all this way, right?" she confirmed, glancing at Stefan.

"I really need your help, Laura. It can't wait," he agreed.

Steve folded his arms over his chest. "Laura, maybe he just came to ruin our night. For revenge. The long con!"

"Steve, that's enough," Laura barked finally. Laura waved for Stefan to follow her. She led him into the kitchen, as Steve followed closely behind. "Are you hungry? We have some leftovers."

"Sure," Stefan shrugged, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

Steve harrumphed into the seat in front of him as Laura began to make him a plate.

She stuck it in the microwave and looked back at both men. "So where have you been living lately?" she began.

"New York," he replied.

"Wow. That must be amazing," she mused.

Stefan looked around their kitchen. He shrugged. "It's not like you haven't done ok for yourself."

Laura looked down at the counter. "Well, yeah. We're doing really well," she admitted softly.

"That's great," Stefan said dejectedly.

Laura took his plate out and set it in front of him. She sat next to him, ignoring Steve's possessive glare that demanded she move to be near him instead. "So, why are you here, Stefan? What's wrong?" she asked softly as he began to eat.

He paused, chewing his first bite slowly, stalling for time. "I have a problem, Laura, and I don't know who else I can turn to. You're the only person who's ever really loved me, and I know you love Steve now, and I shouldn't be here, but I have a problem."

"Stefan, I still care about you," she promised, taking his hand. "We'll do whatever it takes to help you. Tell me what's wrong."

Stefan looked uncomfortably at Steve again. He tried to focus his attention on Laura. "I'm a drug addict. I've tried to get clean on and off for the past decade, but it never sticks. It finally cost me my job, my house, and everything I have. I've been living in a shelter in New York. I've tried to rely on friends and girlfriends to help me through my recovery, but I just haven't had anybody real in my life since you dumped me. I wanna get my life back on track, but I can't do that without you."

Laura's jaw dropped. "A drug addict?" she repeated. "When did you start doing drugs?"

Stefan looked away. "About six months after you dumped me and I moved to LA."

"That was twenty years ago." Laura's eyes began to sting. "What kind of drugs?" she whispered.

"It started with alcohol, but it wasn't long before I became addicted to coke, and I haven't been able to stop."

"Cocaine?" she clarified. "You're on cocaine? What the hell is wrong with you, Stefan? Why'd you even try that stuff?"

"Because I was heartbroken, Laura! I tried booze, but it just made me sadder. Cocaine gave me energy and made me happy and motivated me."

"You're saying this is my fault?" she demanded.

"No, I'm not…. I just mean…"

"Stefan," Steve interrupted as Laura's eyes filled with guilt, "why are you really here? Just to make Laura feel guilty for something that is in no way her fault?" He reached out for Laura's hand, but she pulled it back.

"No, that's not why I came. I really came for help. I don't wanna be this way anymore, but I can't stop. I need help."

"Ok," Laura agreed quickly. "We'll help you. You can stay in one of our guest bedrooms for a while. We'll get you into an outpatient rehab program. We'll beat this thing." Laura reached out to Stefan's arm and squeezed it. She was shocked he was so thin and scrawny.

Steve bit his lip as he thought. He knew Laura felt guilty, and he wanted to do whatever he could to relieve that guilt. He wanted to help Stefan, too. He had brought him into this world just to take away the only thing he had been built for, but that didn't mean he wanted a drug addict in the house with his kids, especially a drug addict who had reason to resent his kids. "Laura, maybe we can find an inpatient program."

"I've tried that before," Stefan said. "It stops me for a while, but the second I get out, I start again."

"So we'll do an outpatient program. You'll be here. We'll be around to hold you accountable," Laura insisted.

"I can't afford another rehab program," he complained softly in embarrassment. "Like I said, I was living in a shelter in New York."

"We'll pay, Stefan," Laura promised. "Don't even worry about that. You just need to focus on getting well."

"Laura, can I speak to you in the other room, please?" Steve asked quietly.

"No," Laura retorted immediately.

"Laura," Steve scolded in shock.

"No, Steve. We're doing this and that's final."

Steve pursed his lips. They could talk about it later, he supposed. However, there was one thing that he needed to address immediately. "Stefan," Steve began, "are you sure this will be good for you? I mean, isn't staying with Laura and me going to be hard for you to watch?"

Stefan nodded. "It will be, which is why it took me twenty years to get to this point, but I need to do something."

"Well, maybe Carl and Harriette would take you in?" Steve suggested.

"Steve, stop!" Laura ordered. "We're doing this for him! I owe him that much!"

"Laura, I just want to be sure we're not doing more harm than good. We have kids, Stefan," Steve said turning back to him. "We have three wonderful kids, and if you stay here, you'll have to meet them tomorrow. Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"No," Stefan admitted, "but I wanna try. I have to try something, Steve."

Steve took a deep breath and sighed. "Ok. We'll try this, but there are some rules."

"Steve, stop talking!" Laura complained.

What a great way to spend their anniversary! Steve glared at her. "Laura, I have ground rules for your ex-boyfriend staying here. That's not unreasonable."

"It's fine, Laura," Stefan agreed quickly. "Lay 'em on me, Steve."

"Do you have any of that stuff on you now?"

"Yeah."

"Give it to me." Stefan reached into his pocket and pulled out a little, plastic bag. He handed it to Steve. Laura stared at it in shock, but Steve remained calm. "Is that all of it?"

"Yeah."

"Would it be all right if I searched you and your things?" Steve asked.

"Steve!" Laura scolded with wide eyes.

"Yeah. That's fine," Stefan nodded. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a second bag. He handed it to Steve, and Laura looked back at him with disappointment filling her eyes, her mouth agape.

"You can't have this stuff here. I have kids. If you're going to stay here, I'm going to have to search you and your room periodically. Whenever I see fit."

Laura wanted to argue that Steve was being unreasonable, but after Stefan had lied about having a second bag, it became clear that she couldn't trust him anymore.

"Ok," Stefan agreed.

"Secondly, there is nothing more important to me than my kids. If you do anything to hurt them-" Steve warned.

"I wouldn't!"

"Or say anything over the line to them, or make them uncomfortable in anyway, you're outta here, Bucko!"

"Of course," Stefan agreed.

"Good. Last thing. Nothing's gonna happen between you and Laura. If that's why you're here or if that's in the back of your mind, then you should just go now. I trust my wife, which means that if anything happened between you two, I'd have to assume you forced yourself on her. At which point, I'd have to kill you."

"Steve," Laura scolded softly.

"Understood," Stefan nodded.

"Ok, then. We can try this." Steve took a deep breath and stood. "Laura, why don't you show him to his room while I get dressed?"

Laura looked up at him gratefully. That was it? She had expected a much longer fight. "Ok," she smiled softly.

Steve leaned down to peck her cheek, but she turned away from him. He stood up straight again and nodded in acknowledgement. He wasn't going to be allowed to show her much affection in front of Stefan. He would just have to get used to that.

As Steve walked away, she followed him with her eyes.

"He's a good guy," Stefan admitted

Laura turned back to him and didn't say anything.

"I'm honestly not sure I'd be as welcoming if the situation were reversed," he continued.

"It wouldn't really be up to you," Laura explained, "and it's not up to him, and he knows that by this point in our marriage."

"It's still his house, Laura. He could've put up a bigger fight."

"It's our house," she corrected, "but yeah, he could have. He really is a good man. He's going to do his best for you. I guarantee it."

"Then I guess I came to the right place, huh?"

"But he won't give me up, Stefan," Laura said softly.

"I didn't ask him to," he objected.

"I know, but I just want to be clear. I feel really awful about what happened between us and where you are now, but Steve and I have built a life together, and I'm happy."

Stefan looked down uncomfortably.

"So if that's why you're here -"

"It's not," he interrupted. "I'm not saying it never crosses my mind, you falling for me again, but I need help, Laura. That's why I'm here. I'm glad you're happy. I want you to be happy."

"I want you to be happy, too," she said softly, grabbing his hand.

"I'm exhausted," he said eventually. "Why don't you show me this room I keep hearing so much about?"

As Laura walked him toward the guest room, he couldn't help but notice how extravagant the house was. It had been impressive from the outside, set on beachfront property with plenty of woods separating them from distant neighbors on either side, but the inside really made it clear just how well they were doing. The downstairs housed a large foyer that led out to the deck with the built-in hot tub and pool overlooking Lake Michigan and their small but beautiful private stretch of beach. The foyer led off to a gorgeous kitchen on the left. The floors were wooden throughout. The kitchen counters were marble. The island was large and spacious. The appliances were state of the art, several bearing Steve's own name in the logo. Along the back wall, the kitchen table was surrounded on three sides by cosy booth seating. Of course, they had a more formal dining room with a gorgeous table and a fully-windowed wall one room over. Behind the kitchen was a hallway that led from the foyer to Laura's office enclosed by a gorgeous set of French doors that boasted her fabulous office set waiting inside. Under the stairs that led up was a door leading down to the basement that housed Steve's large, luxurious, private lab. A basement with no windows allowed him to keep out any and all spies for other companies. It was made clear to Stefan that he was never to step foot down there. On the other side of the foyer was the large living room. While it was filled with expensive furniture and technology, its arrangement and the moderate clutter really drove home the fact that a loving family lived in this house, which was hard for Stefan to truly absorb.

Then Laura led him upstairs. She didn't want to show off, so they steered clear of the three kids separate rooms and the master bedroom. She showed him the family room in the middle of the upstairs, filled with games, both video and board, books, and a killer mini movietheater-like set-up.

Finally, she led him into his room. She opened the door and stepped inside. The room was spacious but filled with cozy furniture. It had everything a guest could need, a king-sized bed, a desk, a walk-in closet, and an expensive television.

"So, this is it… I know it's not much, but-"

"Homeless shelter, Laura," he reminded her. "I feel like I'm in Buckingham Palace!"

Laura nodded. "Right. Ok," she hesitated. "Well, the bathroom's through here," she said, pointing at the door. "It's a Jack-and-Jill, so you'll actually have to share it with my daughter. This room's normally empty, so I'm sure, with no warning, the bathroom's probably a mess, but if you can get past the empty tubes of lip gloss and toothpaste on the mirror, I'm sure it'll work for you."

Stefan nodded. He set his small bag down, the one containing all of his worldly possessions. He owned one small bag, and Steve owned multiple decked-out bedrooms that existed only to be left empty more often than not. That seemed fair.

"Would you rather have the other one? It has a private bathroom, but the room's a lot smaller, and there's no TV or anything."

Stefan shook his head. "No, this is fine," he said as he moved to the chair in the corner and sat. He let Laura stand uncomfortably for a moment. Then he gave in and decided to attempt to make conversation. "What's your daughter's name?"

Laura looked to him suddenly, surprised he would want to talk about that. "Quinley," she answered.

"That's unique?" he questioned. "I thought you usually leaned toward traditional names. What were we going to name ours?"

Laura felt her face flush deeply at the thought of having had conversations like that with someone other than Steve.

"Michael and Elise?"

Laura nodded. "Umm… Yeah, well, I wanted to name her Stephanie, after Steve, but he was too modest. He wanted to name her after me. I suggested we combine our names, but Stevaura never really had the right ring to it, so Quincy and Lee became Quinley," she explained.

He nodded.

"Steve's the only one who ever really calls her that. Most people just call her Quinn, so I still kinda won," Laura chuckled.

"What's she like?"

Laura sat on the edge of the bed and smiled softly. "Well, she looks almost exactly like I did that that age. She's fourteen. She'll be fifteen in July. The other kids really look like a good mix of Steve and me, but she is like a clone. Her eyes are a little bigger, like Steve's, and she is blind as a bat, so she wears glasses. Only before she puts in her contacts however, because she is in an extremely vain stage right now. She's freaky smart, like Steve is, but she's vain and sarcastic and shallow and independent and responsible and ambitious and so obviously going through this little period where she's kind of a mediocre person who's getting really close to figuring out how to treat the people in her life," Laura laughed and hesitated on that one. That probably wasn't a phase Stefan needed to be reminded of. She cleared her throat. "So you know that old question? Would you be friends with yourself? Apparently the answer is no, because she is such a Daddy's girl. We both get a little bit of the teenager attitude, but I get it so much worse. I just keep reminding myself that she'll grow out of it like I did, but I swear, I've called my mother so many times to apologize for being such a brat."

Stefan forced a smile as she finished. "She sounds great. What about the other two?"

With such a lackluster response, Laura tried to reel it in a little. "We also have Samuel, who's 11, and Stephanie, who's 9."

"Stephanie?"

"Yeah, I won that time."

Stefan chuckled. "You always do eventually," he smiled up at her.

When Laura finally came to bed, Steve was sitting up, reading addiction studies on his tablet. He locked the screen and set the device on his nightstand. "Hey, Sweetheart. Is Stefan settled in?" he asked gently.

"Yeah, and I really don't wanna fight about it, Steve, so if I have to, I'll just go sleep in the other guest room."

"Whoa, whoa, Laura Lee. I don't wanna fight about it either. It's our twentieth anniversary. I just wanted to make sure everything was settled before we went back to… celebrating," he purred, pulling back the comforter for her.

"I'm not in the mood anymore, Steve," she sighed, walking into the bathroom to start her nightly routine.

Steve stared after her for a moment before coming up with a plan. He walked into the master bath and turned on the water in the jacuzzi.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she took off her makeup.

"Getting the tub ready for us," he replied factually.

"Steve, I already told you -"

"Laura, twenty years. You have been my wife for twenty years. For twenty years, we've shared a home, a bed, our lives. You are my only lover. We've been pleasuring each other for twenty years, and I refuse to spend our twentieth wedding anniversary celebration without a little lovin'." He tested the water and plugged the tub. It filled quickly, and he stood. He dropped his boxers to the ground and climbed in. "Get in the tub," he ordered as he sat.

"Steve, this has been a really hard night, and I'm sorry it didn't go how we wanted it to, but -"

"Laura Lee, twenty years… and three days ago, you and I had just gotten to the hotel room." He glanced at the clock on his phone. "In fact, twenty years ago, you were probably singing this song to me," he continued. Softly, the room filled with the opening bars to Whitney Houston's "Savin' All My Love" as Steve fiddled with his phone.

Laura rushed to the control panel on the wall and turned off the song. "Steve, c'mon. You know that song has a double meaning to me."

He cocked his head at her. "When we got married, you said that that song made you think of me now. Not him."

"It does, but he's here, and I'm feeling guilty, and I just can't tonight. I'm sorry," she said, looking away from him guiltily.

Steve sank lower into the water. "Oh," he said sadly as he finally gave in. They really weren't going to do anything on the weekend they'd chosen to celebrate their twentieth anniversary. He mentally kicked himself for not trying something that morning. They hadn't even made love on their real anniversary on Wednesday because they'd both been so exhausted from long days at work.

Laura finished her nightly routine and finally turned back to him. "So are you coming to bed?" She asked.

"In a while," he sniffled.

Laura stared at him for a moment. She looked at the ring on his left hand, dangling out of the tub. She had placed that ring on his finger two decades ago, and when she did it, she was more than certain she was making the right decision. In a lot of ways, she was still sure of that. He was an amazing husband. They had three brilliant, beautiful, good-hearted children. They had built the house of her dreams. They had more money than they needed. They were going to be able to retire young and grow old together comfortably. She had an incredible job that she loved and all of his love and support. She had everything that she'd ever wanted, and most of that was thanks to her husband. Still, a part of her couldn't help but wonder if Stefan had needed her more. When she agreed to marry Steve, she did it for herself, but she felt comfortable with that decision because she thought Stefan would be ok. Maybe Steve was the stronger one all along.

"Laura Lee?" he whispered.

"Yes, Steve?" she replied gently.

"Please, don't leave me," he begged, his stomach twisting in pain. He hadn't felt this feeling in so long, but it felt just like it had when they'd first gotten married, like if he didn't do everything perfectly, she would be gone.

Laura's face fell and her eyes filled with tears. She moved to the edge of the tub and sat down. "I'm not gonna leave you, Steve."

"Make love to me, Laura," he begged. "I need to feel you, Sweetheart. I need to feel how much you love me."

Laura paused. "Are those crocodile tears?" she accused. "Just to get in my pants?"

"No! God, Laura, of course not!" he cried, reaching up to wipe his tears. "I'm honestly upset!"

Laura placed a hand on his bare chest and felt his pounding heart. "Ok, Sweetheart. Relax. Dry off and come to bed. We can make love."

"Really? Do you want to or are you just…?"

"I want to, Steve. Really, come to bed," she urged. She stood and walked out the door. She went back to the closet and changed into the nightie she had worn on their first night together, just like she did every year. The color had faded some, and it was a lot tighter, but it still fit, and she looked great in it. She walked out and climbed into her side of the bed. Steve came out of the bathroom a little later in his boxers again. He moved to climb under the covers, but she stopped him. "Uh-uh. You know the tradition. Where are those silky briefs I bought you for our first anniversary?" she demanded.

He blushed and looked away. "Laura, we don't have to go through the whole thing tonight if-"

"Go put them on, Steve," she ordered.

He nodded and walked back to the closet. He slipped on the tight, silk briefs and stepped back out of the closer.

"There's my man," she purred.

He smiled weakly and climbed under the covers with her. "Do you wanna talk for a minute first?" he asked.

"No," she said immediately, grabbing his face and kissing him deeply.

Having been ready and raring to go for hours, he certainly didn't argue with her. He pushed her back and climbed on top of her, their lips locked tightly together. He ran his hands up and down her body, relishing the fact that he was no longer shy about needing to touch her. It wasn't long before his hands gripped her breasts.

As he massaged her chest, Laura tried hard to clear her head. She knew Steve would be heartbroken to know that her mind was somewhere else while he was touching her, but her whole body was aching with guilt over both men. She hated that she was in part responsible for Stefan's life falling to pieces, and she hated that she was now questioning her choice to marry Steve. On their twentieth anniversary, no less!

As Steve pulled down the straps of her nightie, exposing her breasts, he paused and looked down at her. "Are you still with me, Sweetums?" he prodded gently.

Laura met his eyes and refocused again. "Of course," she smiled. "It feels great, Baby."

Steve took a deep breath and sighed as he began to fiddle with her sensitive nipples. "I need you to concentrate on me, Laura, and how I'm making you feel. Your mind can't be on him now. Not when we're doing this. Not tonight."

"Mmm…" Laura moaned softly as he licked his fingers and rubbed the moistness against her nipples. "Ok," she agreed. "I'm sorry. I'm with you, I promise." She paused for a moment. "Just… Maybe keep talking to me, Steve?"

she suggested. "I have a lot on my mind."

"Ok," he agreed. He leaned down to kiss her neck as he continued to touch her. "You like that, Gorgeous?" He whispered in her ear.

"Yes," she replied.

He kissed down between her cleavage and motorboated her. "You have such beautiful breasts," he smiled at her.

"Thank you, Steve," she grinned.

"Can I suck on 'em?" he asked.

"Please," she urged.

"Talk to me, Sweetness. Tell me how good I make you feel," he ordered as he descended to her right nipple and took it into his mouth.

Laura focused on the pleasure and forced herself to be more vocal to assure them both that her head was where it was supposed to be. "Oh, Steve. That's right. That's just right," she moaned. She continued to say his name again and again whenever her mind started to concentrate on the wrong thing.

"I love you, Laura Lee," he whispered as he slipped his hand into her panties and took them off.

"I love you, too, Steve Urkel," she promised, stroking the back of his head as his strong fingers stroked the outside of her womanhood. "More than I've ever loved anyone else… except the kids."

He looked up at her as his mouth hovered over her womanhood. "Happy anniversary, my love," he whispered, his voice breaking as her words touched him.

"Happy anniversary," she replied with a soft smile. As his tongue quickly got to work, she closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax. As he worked his magic, it became easier and easier to focus on her lover and forget about who was just down the hall. Steve was the one who had been at her side her entire life. He was the one who had devoted himself to her when he was just five years old. He was the one who had taken care of her as much as she let him over the past thirty-six years of their lives. He was the one she'd given her virginity to. He was the one she had made three wonderful babies with. He was the one she had promised to spend her life with. He was the one. Nothing could ever change that, she was sure as she screamed his name loudly and came. She wasn't laying it on thick. She wasn't hoping to relieve his anxieties by calling out to him. He was just that damn good. "OHHHHH, STEEEEEEVE!" she screamed as she convulsed around him. She held his head firmly to her womanhood, refusing to let him escape until every twitch had run through her body. As her muscles eventually gave in, she released him and threw her hands over her head as she panted heavily.

He grinned cockily as he kissed his way back up her body. "I still got it, huh?" he teased, kissing her neck.

She chuckled softly. "You know you do. You do it almost every time we fool around."

"Twenty years of practice makes perfect then?" he prompted, kissing her lips.

"Hm. Not perfect. I think you need at least twenty more years of practice. Then we'll reevaluate," she winked.

He looked at her seriously for a moment, staring deeply into her eyes. "I hope that you and I have at least sixty more years of this ahead of us."

She smiled softly and stroked his cheek. "You think we're gonna be doing this when we're 101?" she demanded.

"Baby, as long as you can still spread those gorgeous gams and I can still move this tongue," he began, moving his tongue in and out and up and down rapidly in demonstration, "I fully intend to keep you satisfied."

Laura giggled at his silliness. Her face grew serious as he looked down at her. "God, I love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too," he agreed. He looked down for a moment and then glanced back up. "Thank you for choosing me, Laura."

_Why did he have to bring that back up?_ she wondered. She looked away from and tried to come up with an appropriate response.

He grabbed her chin and forced her eyes back to his. "Hey, stop," he insisted. "Don't question it. Remember what you just said to me. You love me more than anyone. That's what matters, Laura Lee. If you're happy, then you made the right choice. Your happiness is all either of us wanted. Are you happy?"

Her face contorted in pain. How could he even ask that? "Of course, I'm happy, Baby. Tonight's been… tough, but I'm very happy. You make me deliriously happy."

"Then you made the right choice," he assured her, moving his lips close to hers, wanting to be kissed this time, rather than do the kissing. She didn't make him wait a moment. She locked her lips with his the moment they met. Her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. She reached a hand between them and lined him up with her entrance, but he didn't thrust in. He broke their kiss. "Wait. You're supposed to… You're supposed to touch it first, remember?"

Laura frowned. She loved how they recreated their wedding night every year, but she was in no mood to give him a handjob tonight. She just wanted to make love. She reached down and slid her nightie the rest of the way off, pulling her legs away to accommodate this. She wrapped them around him again and drew his hips closer. "Baby, c'mon. I really need this," she urged.

He sighed. "It's tradition, my love. I'm gonna make love to you, but… It's tradition."

He looked at her with his big, puppy dog eyes, and she melted immediately. She sighed deeply and sat up. What 41 old man could pull off puppy dog eyes? He lay down beside her, and she moved closer. She slipped her hand in his briefs and gripped his member. It was so hard. She kissed his neck. "You were so nervous the first time I touched this, you were shaking," she teased.

He slipped one arm under her and pulled her closer. He grabbed one of her breasts with his free hand and began to play with it. "Of course, I was nervous. I was terrified you weren't gonna like it."

She smiled. "Sweet, sweet boy," she purred, stroking him up and down, "how could I not love every inch of this big, thick… cock?"

He growled softly under his breath. He moved the hand that rested on her back down to her butt. He spanked her playfully before gripping it firmly. "Watch your mouth, you naughty girl," he grumbled as he got lost in the pleasure.

"Oh, hush," she said with a roll of her eyes. "You know you like it when I call it that."

"But I'll never admit it," he laughed and snorted. "Oooo," he purred as she began to move faster. She lifted herself higher to get a better angle. She stroked even faster. "Laura, Sweetums, don't stop," he ordered.

She leaned close to his ear. "Let me suck it, Baby," she whispered. "I wanna taste my husband's cum."

"Ohhhhh," he groaned. "No, you know the rules. You can't put it in your mouth tonight… You didn't do that for me until the first full day of our honeymoon."

She frowned. "Why do you deny yourself like this every year for some silly, little tradition?"

"Because I love you, and I loved our wedding night. It was perfect just the way it was, and I wouldn't change it for the world," he explained, panting heavily as he got closer.

"You are so sexy when you're so hopelessly romantic," she whispered.

He grinned brightly, clenching his teeth.

"You're getting close, aren't you?" she teased. He nodded rapidly, and she smirked. "Tell me, Baby. Where do you want your cum?"

He stared at her for a moment as he fantasized. Once he had decided, he knocked her back on the bed and hovered over from the side of her head. "Close your eyes," he ordered, placing her hand back on his member.

She closed her eyes tightly and continued to stroke him. Seconds later, she flinched as his cum began to shoot out onto her face. She opened her mouth, hoping to swallow what she could, but he was sure to move his hips, covering her in his love. When he had finished, he lay back down beside her. When her eyes fluttered open, he was looking down at her hungrily. "You wouldn't change it for the world, huh?" she giggled.

He laughed and snorted. "I wouldn't, but this isn't our wedding night. This is our anniversary, and I needed to see you like this today, covered in my love."

She smiled softly. "How do I look?"

"So, so bad," he purred, kissing her cum covered lips.

"Mmm," she moaned as he kissed her. She looked up at him as he pulled away. "Is it making you hard again?" she asked, reaching down to play with his balls. "Seeing me covered in your cum?"

"You know it does," he growled.

"Get me a towel," she ordered, pushing him away with a giggle.

He slipped away and came back quickly with a warm, wet washcloth. He wiped her face clean, kissed her gently, tossed the towel aside, and climbed back into his position.

"Show me," she ordered, lifting her hands up to his strong arms.

He moved the covers a little lower and shifted upward, revealing his partially hard member to her. It took him a little longer to be ready for round two at his age, but he could still get them where they needed to go. "Do you still like how it looks?" he asked, closing his eyes as she ogled him. "After all these years?"

She brushed her thumb against his cheek. "You're so sexy, Steve," she promised as his eyes fluttered open. "I remember that night so well. I remember exactly what you looked like then. You still look amazing. With or without your pants." He laughed and snorted. "I will always love you," she promised. "I will always find you sexy."

He kissed her softly. "You know I feel exactly the same way, don't you?"

"Where do you think I learned how to love like this?" she whispered.

His heart started to pound faster, and his stomach grew warm. "That is so…" He didn't even know what to say.

"I mean it, Steve. You've taught me so much about love," she insisted.

"Laura," he urged, grabbing her hand. "Stroke it until I'm rock hard again. I need to take you," he groaned, moving a hand down to finger her as she stroked him.

"Ohhh…" she called as his fingers slipped deep inside of her, moving rapidly in and out. She spread her legs wider for him as she stroked, urging him to start taking her.

The moment he was certain he was hard enough, he lined himself up with her entrance. He hovered over her for a moment. "Happy anniversary, my love," he groaned, just as he slammed himself into her as deeply as he could, covering every inch of himself in her warmth.

"Steeeeve!" She cried. "Oh, Steve. Oh, Steve. Happy anniversary!" she groaned as he moved in and out as quickly as he could.

"God, you feel so good," he moaned, looking deep into her eyes.

"As good as the first time?" she panted.

"Better. Much better," he grunted.

Laura looked deeply into his eyes as she felt him in every inch of her. "I love you," she cried.

"Oh, Laura. Oh, Laura Lee, I love you, too. I love you, too, Babycakes."

"Mmmm…" she moaned.

He began to thrust harder into her, grunting with the effort. "Unh. I'm. Oh. Laura. Laura. Laura." He moved faster as he began to shout her name again and again.

"Rub my clit, Baby! Rub my clit!" she demanded.

He reached between them and played with her happily. "Laura," he groaned. "Lauraaaaa…" He slowed down to concentrate on pleasuring her, but when he could tell she was close, he pulled away from her clit to get better balance. He wanted his member to do the trick anyway. He moved faster, stroking her insides carefully. "Laura. Laura. Laura Urkel. Laura Urkel. Laura Urkel."

"Steeeve. Steve, I'm so close. I'm almost there. I'm so close, Baby. Make me come! Make your wife come!" she begged.

"God, Laura. Oh, Laura. Come for me. Please, come on me. Please, come for Steve Urkel," he whined as he was beginning to lose control.

"I'm gonna come. I'm gonna come. I'm gonna- OH, MY GOD!" she screamed suddenly as her body shook and her womanhood rattled around him.

"Lauraaaaa!" he yelled as he stared at her intently, coming deep inside her. He collapsed on top of her and buried his face in her neck. He nibbled on it as he waited for her to join him back on planet Earth. When she was silent and still, he lifted his head to look down at her. She was smiling again. Despite all that had happened that night, he could still make her happy. "You are the most beautiful woman in the universe," he whispered, staring at the bright grin.

His compliment made her smile even more dazzling. "You been checkin' out a lot of alien babes, have you?" she teased.

He laughed and snorted. "They ain't got nothin' on you, Darlin'," he promised, kissing her softly. "Happy anniversary, my love."

"Happy anniversary, Honey," she whispered back. She stared at him for a moment. "Thank you for convincing me, Steve. I'm glad we did this tonight. It wouldn't have been right for us to just go to sleep."

"Really? You're glad? I didn't put on a little too much pressure?" he asked.

"No, I needed a little push. You managed to get my mind off of everything for a minute. More importantly, you reminded me that the decision I made was… mine to make. I'm happy, and that's what's important."

"My little friend reminds you of all of that?" he asked.

She giggled and smacked his arm gently. "No," she laughed, "you did… with words."

"Oh, well, I'm glad I could help," he cooed. He kissed her deeply as he pulled out and lay by her side.

"Steve, I need to apologize in advance for how weird I'm gonna be for the next few days," she said, turning on her side to face him.

He took off his glasses and rolled over to face her. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I just mean… I was weird tonight, and with Stefan here, I'm probably gonna be weird again at some point, but don't think that I'm switching teams or anything. I know I'm gonna scare you a few times while he's here, and I'm sorry."

"That's ok, Laura. I understand," he said softly, stroking her hip. "But I'll probably be a little weird myself," he warned.

"I know, and I'm so grateful to you for not fighting me on this."

"You remember you let my ex spend the night on the first night of our honeymoon, right?" he teased.

"More like I forced you to let me let her."

He smiled and pulled her into his arms. "I understand why you feel responsible, Love, but you shouldn't. You made this choice for you. That's what matters."

"Yeah," she agreed. "I guess."

When Laura woke up the next morning, Steve was already downstairs. She put on her robe and followed the smell of breakfast to the kitchen. She froze in the doorway as she saw both Steve and Stefan in front of her again. She felt like she was time traveling. It was even tripier in the daylight. "Morning," she said, clasping her hands together uncomfortably.

"Morning," Stefan replied, looking up at her from his full plate at the table.

Steve walked over to her. "Good morning, Sweetums," he cooed, handing her a much needed cup of coffee and kissing her cheek. "How'd you sleep?"

She flinched when he kissed her, not wanting to hurt Stefan, but she looked back at him apologetically as she did it, not wanting to hurt him either. "Fine," she lied.

Steve looked at her knowingly and nodded. "I made breakfast," he announced, handing her a plate of all her favorites.

"I see that," she grinned sincerely. "Thank you, Honey," she whispered.

"You're more than welcome, my love," he whispered back as he reached behind himself to untie his apron.

Laura sat across from Stefan. Steve grabbed a plate and sat beside her. They all looked down at their food until Steve finally spoke. "I think I found a good clinic," he announced.

"Really?" Laura asked excitedly.

"Betty Ford has a clinic downtown. They offer an Intensive Outpatient Program. He'd go to 12 step meetings, meet with counselors, go to the center every day. Then he'd come back here for the rest of the day," Steve explained.

Stefan nodded. "Sounds good. The programs are pretty much the same no matter where you go. All that matters is the people who run it and the people I have supporting me."

Laura cocked her head at him. "You have our full support," she promised just as the door opened.

"Mommy!" Stephanie yelled as she stampeded into the house.

"Oh!" Laura laughed as she crashed into her. She grabbed her tightly and kissed her cheek. "Hey, Sweetie."

Stephanie released her and hopped across the table, without looking carefully enough. "Hi, Daddy!" she smiled, hugging Stefan tightly.

Steve began to choke on his food as he watched his daughter call his rival "Daddy". He coughed loudly, particles flying out of his mouth. Laura pounded on his back as he began to get ahold of his airway. He looked at Stephanie as he began to breathe again. She was staring back at him with wide eyes. "Wrong guy, Angel," Steve said as casually as possible, not wanting her to feel bad for nearly tearing his heart out of his chest.

Stephanie glanced slowly at Stefan, and her face fell suddenly. As the strange doppelgänger terrified her, she immediately began to cry, running back to Laura.

"Oh, Honey," Laura frowned as she pulled her into her lap. She held her tightly and glanced helplessly at Steve.

"No, Sweetpea," he pouted, taking her out of Laura's arms and pulling her into his. "No, Sweetpea, don't worry. It's all right. That was just an old friend of Mommy's. It's all right. Daddy's gotcha," he promised, squeezing her tightly to soothe her fears.

Quinley, Samuel, and Carl were only a few steps behind.

"What happened?" Sam asked as he entered the room to find his little sister sobbing.

"And who's that?" Quinn asked in disbelief as she saw a man who appeared to be her father's evil twin.

"Stefan?" Carl gasped as he stepped into the room.

Stefan put his fork down for the first time in the chaos and stood. "Hey, Carl," he said, smiling his old, charming smile as he extended a hand.

Carl shook it slowly in shock.

"You're lookin' good!"

"So are you," Carl agreed politely.

"No, I'm not," Stefan admitted with a shake of his head.

"No, you're not," Carl agreed honestly. "You look like Hell, man. Are you ok? And what on Earth are you doing here?"

"We can talk about it later, Daddy," Laura said softly, standing and coming between them to protect the innocent ears in the room. "But… Um… Kids, this is my old friend, Stefan. He's gonna be staying with us for a little while," Laura announced.

Quinn stepped closer to him, looking him up and down. "This is Stefan?" she asked Laura, pointing at him accusingly.

"Yes," Laura nodded.

"_The_ Stefan?" Quinn continued.

"Yes," Laura said again, smiling uncomfortably.

"The Stefan you almost married?" she demanded, suddenly fuming.

"Yes," Laura admitted a little softer.

"Mom!" she scolded.

"What?" Laura asked, surprised by her tone. She had assumed the kids would be uncomfortable, but she didn't expect them to be angry.

"You can't do that. You know how Daddy feels about him!"

Laura's brow furrowed. Who was the parent here? "Your father and I have already talked about it, and it's been decided, and watch your tone, Young Lady!"

Quinn looked to Steve. "Daddy, you don't have to let her do this."

Laura scowled. "That's enough, Quinn."

"No, it's not!" she argued. "You know Daddy's a pushover, so you're walking all over him! You'd never let his ex move in!"

"Quinley," Steve interrupted, hoping to prevent WWIII, "I appreciate your concern, but I'm fine with this. Really. Stefan is sick, and he needs our help. I brought him into this world. It's my responsibility."

Quinley pursed her lips and glared at Stefan. Without another word, she turned and stomped away.

Laura looked back at Steve in disbelief. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Steve mumbled, shaking his head. He looked to Stefan. "But you better hope she gets over it, because I won't traumatize my kids for you."

Stefan nodded, only to turn and see their son standing right beside him. He was eyeing him too but differently. "Uh. Hi," Stefan said eventually.

Samuel reached out and poked his eye.

"Ow!" Stefan cringed, covering his eye and turning away.

Laura gasped. What had happened to her sweet, wonderful children?

"Samuel Carl Urkel!" Steve scolded.

"Wow! His eye feels so real!"

The adults all cocked their heads at him.

"I read online that that's the hardest thing to get right with AI," he explained.

Steve shook his head. "While I doubt that's true, he's my clone, not a robot!"

"Oh! _Stefan_! I always mix him up with Urkel Bot," Samuel said with a shrug. He turned to Laura and Steve, completely obliviously. "Did you guys have a good anniversary?"

Laura glanced sideways at Steve. Social cues were not their boy's forte. "Um…. Yeah, Baby. Thanks," she replied.

"Good," he nodded firmly. He walked up to Laura and kissed her cheek. He gave Steve a high-five and headed upstairs.

As Steve rubbed her back, Stephanie began to calm down. She wiggled out of his arms and stepped back to the floor.

"Are you ok, Sweetheart?" Steve asked Stephanie.

She nodded, silently giving Stefan the side eye. "Can I go upstairs and play?"

"Of course, Baby," Laura replied as Stephanie quickly turned and ran away.

Stefan awkwardly cleared his throat. "Well, now that I've scared all your kids away, should we catch Carl up?"

Carl sat beside Stefan and stole a piece of bacon off his plate. "Please."

Laura and Steve looked away uncomfortably. It surprised them that Stefan could talk about his problem so casually, but being how much time he'd spent in and out of rehab, talking about it was something he had become very good at. "I'm a drug addict, Carl. Laura and Steve are gonna let me stay here for a while until I kick my addiction and get back on my feet."

Carl's first reaction was shock, but it changed quickly to anger. "Absolutely not!" he barked in response.

Steve looked back at him. He had thought he would be the only one to object to Stefan being back in their lives.

"Daddy," Laura scolded.

"No, Laura. Absolutely not. You are not doing this to my grandchildren." He turned to Steve. "And shame on you for letting this happen. Laura, I understand. You should know better."

Steve grew defensive. "Hey, this really wasn't up to me. I wanted to find an inpatient program for him. Laura wouldn't hear of it!"

"Well, of course, Steve. She probably feels responsible for it, but you should've put your foot down for the safety of your kids. They don't wanna live with their mom's ex-boyfriend, and they don't wanna live with a drug addict. You two have no idea what you're in for. Have you ever seen someone go through withdrawal like that?" He turned to Stefan. "What drugs?"

Stefan withered slightly under Carl's stare. "Cocaine."

Carl fumed. "Do you know how addictive that is if one of your kids stumbles upon it?" he asked Laura and Steve. "On top of that risk, your children are going to be exposed to his fatigue, depression, agitation, restlessness, vivid nightmares and dreams, and paranoia. He won't be vomiting like he would on heroin, but this is a huge undertaking that's going to traumatize your kids. Period. I can't believe how irresponsible you two are being." He looked away from them, shaking his head in disgust.

Laura and Steve looked desperately at each other. Though they hadn't exactly been on the same page, in the face of Carl's reaction, they felt they needed each other's support. Laura grabbed Steve's hand under the table and squeezed it tightly. He placed his second hand on hers and squeezed back. "Daddy," Laura began, "I understand why you're concerned, but Steve and I can handle this. Steve already found him a program. Quinn's old enough that we can sit her down and tell her the truth. Sam and Steph won't care after a couple days. I'm sure we can keep Stefan out of their sight when he's having a hard time. It's a big house."

"I can't believe how naïve you're being, Laura," Carl scolded, "and I'm sure he's playing the hero in all this, but what on Earth do you think you're doing to Steve?"

Laura looked at Steve guiltily. She turned back to her father faking complete resolve. "What goes on between me and my husband is our business," she said firmly.

Carl took a deep breath and shook his head, looking at both of them. He stood and said, "You two are going to regret this, and I don't support it, but if you need the kids to stay with us at some point to get them away from this mess, just call." With that, he walked out of the kitchen. A few moments later, they heard the front door slam shut.

Laura took a deep breath and sighed, "Well, that could've gone worse."

Steve nodded as he finally began his breakfast. They ate in awkward silence, though Laura's hand rested comfortably on Steve's knee through it all.

After they were finished, Stefan stood up, placed his plate in the dishwasher, and asked, "Do you guys have a gym in this house?"

Steve laughed and snorted. "Oh, sure. We're a couple of real body builders."

Laura elbowed Steve beside her. "Honey, stop. No, Stefan. We don't have a real gym. There's a treadmill in one of the guest bedrooms upstairs, and I do yoga on the beach a couple of days a week if you ever wanna join me."

Stefan nodded. "Steve, you look pretty filled out still. How do you stay in shape?"

"I get a lot of exercise at work and just chasing the kids around. Plus, I do laps in the pool."

"What about in the winter?"

"It's really well heated," he shrugged.

Stefan shuffled from one foot to the other. "Exercise helps me… stay clean," he mumbled.

Laura cocked her head at him. "Um. Ok, well, like I said, you can join us for any of those activities, and there's a Lifetime about fifteen minutes south."

"I don't have a car."

Laura stood and grabbed her keys from her purse. "Take mine."

Stefan nodded. "Thanks, but I still don't have any cash for a membership," he complained, stepping away from the keys.

Laura opened her wallet and began counting out bills.

"Oh, no, Laura, I don't want your money," he said.

"Hey," Laura said seriously, "if it helps, I want you to do it. We can spare it, Stefan. I promise."

He nodded. "Ok." He took the keys and the cash, turning to head out the door. "Thanks. I'll be back in a few hours."

"Ok. Have fun," she said, clearly unconvinced that that was the right thing to say.

When they heard the door close, Laura began to clear the table. Steve stood to join her. Laura looked at him nervously as they placed all the dishes in the dishwasher. "Um. You're ok with me giving him some money for that, right?"

Steve began to wipe down the table as he responded, "Of course, my sweet. We can spare it, like you said. No big deal."

Laura nodded. "Good." She paused and looked at him seriously. "And, Steve, about what my dad said…"

"Don't worry about it, Sweetums. We talked all this out already. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Because I completely steamrolled you on this. I know that. I think this is really important. Steve, and we're doing it, but if you object, I wanna know that. I don't want you to hide anything from me."

Steve walked over to her and set his rag down. He placed his hands on her arms and rubbed up and down. "Laura, I don't like this, you know that, but I'm willing to do it for you. Don't worry about the money. I would have happily offered to pay for inpatient, which is way more money. I feel responsible for him, too. I wanna help him. I would appreciate it if you made some extra effort with me, though."

"What do you mean?" she asked, cocking her head at him sympathetically.

"Try to be a little extra affectionate with me. Try not to spend more time with him alone than you need to. That kinda stuff. Make this as easy for me as you can."

Laura nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'll try."

Steve leaned his head forward to rest his forehead against hers. "Thank you." He pecked her lips. "We need to talk to the kids," he continued.

"In a minute," she whispered, kissing him more passionately. Laura pressed her body flat against his, smiling against his lips as he felt his hands grab her butt. She moaned softly. "Mmm…" Then she began to kiss down his neck, running a hand down his chest to his groin. She gripped his member firmly.

"What are you doing?" he squeaked as he jumped.

Laura began to massage it. "Showing you a little extra affection," she whispered in his ear before slipping her tongue inside.

"Oooo…" he squealed. "Laura," he scolded, "we're in the kitchen."

"This won't take long," she insisted, unbuckling his belt and unzipping his pants. She reached her hands in his boxers and began to stroke him, her smooth skin directly on his warmth.

"Oh, God," he groaned. "What if somebody sees us?"

"They won't," she insisted.

"The kids are right upstairs," he warned.

"They're still hiding from Stefan," she purred, stroking him faster.

At the mere mention of his rival's name, he lost sight of the logistics of the issue. His possessive nature simply wanted to mark his territory for the millionth time. He lifted his hands up to her breasts and gripped them. He began to massage them as she continued to stroke.

"Mmm…" she purred. "I like that."

"Me too," he agreed. Still, he released her breasts as she pouted, and he reached a hand up to stroke her hair. As subtly as he could, he began to push down on the top of her head, silently ordering her to get on her knees.

She happily took the hint and got on her knees in front of him. She lowered his boxers enough to expose his member. She leaned forward and began to lick up and down as his knees visibly began to shake.

"Open your mouth, Sweetness," he croaked.

Laura slowly opened her mouth and slipped just the tip inside. She sucked on it gently as he moaned loudly. She began to worry the kids might hear just as the front door opened. She pulled away from Steve immediately and crawled to the other side of the counter hoping to conceal herself before Stefan could put two and two together.

When Steve realized what was happening, he pulled up his underpants and began to tug up his pants just as Stefan walked into the kitchen. He paused in the doorway and stared at a half-pantsless Steve. Steve decided to lean into it and pulled his pants the rest of the way down. He took them off and set them on the counter. "What? I spilled some syrup on them," he explained as Stefan continued to stare.

That might have been more convincing if he hadn't been so completely hard. Stefan nodded and turned to head upstairs. "I forgot my gym clothes," he explained, walking away without another word.

When he was safely out of sight, Steve waited for Laura to stand up again. When she didn't, he considered the possibility that she wasn't done with him. He sauntered proudly over to the other side of the counter and exposed his member again. He looked down at her expectantly until she glared up at him. He pulled his underpants up again and took a deep breath. Apparently that wasn't why she hadn't stood. "Sweetums," he began.

Laura glared up at him more fiercely and silently shushed him.

He rolled his eyes and went back to cleaning the kitchen. Pantsless.

When Stefan came back with a gym bag, he checked in on Steve, glancing at him suspiciously, but he only saw Steve, sporting a huge erection as he wiped down the stove. "See ya, Steve."

"See ya!" Steve called as he heard the door open and shut. When they were in the clear, Steve returned to where Laura was seated. He sat next to her on the floor behind the kitchen island. "So I guess our fun's over, huh?" he asked.

She looked away from him and folded her arms across her chest. "Just leave me alone, Steve," she said softly, holding back her tears.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "No."

Laura was annoyed by that response but leaned into him anyway. "We have to be more careful," she complained.

"Ok," he agreed readily. He knew better than to remind her that she had started it.

"I don't want him relapsing just 'cause we can't keep our pants on," she explained.

"Ok. Only in our bedroom for a while. That's fine," Steve agreed again.

"I'm sorry," she said softly.

"For what?"

"For leaving you hanging," she explained.

"You don't have to," he reminded her. "We've got a little time. We could sneak up to our room."

"I promise I'll take care of you tonight, ok?" she offered, ignoring his suggestion.

"Ok," he agreed.

"Are you ready to go talk to the kids about this again?"

"Can you give me like fifteen minutes to think about basketball statistics?"

Laura laughed and kissed his cheek. "Yeah. I think I can do that." She glanced down at the tent in his undies. "And put some pants on," she giggled.

He laughed and snorted before kissing her sweetly.

About twenty minutes later, they called a family meeting in the living room. The kids sat on the couch. Laura and Steve sat on the coffee table in front of them. "So," Laura began, "I understand that this is uncomfortable for all of us, but your father and I think having Stefan here is really important."

"Of course you do," Quinn grumbled.

"You've already heard our explanation," Laura continued, ignoring her daughter's remark. "Stefan's sick. He doesn't have the money to get care, and he doesn't have a family to support him, so your father and I have agreed to take on those responsibilities. The rest of you don't have to. I expect you to be polite, but you don't have to spend any time with him that you don't want to. We'll have most meals all together, like we always do, but that's it. This is a responsibility that your father and I have decided to commit to. This is our problem. This is our decision. It doesn't have to affect your lives much at all. That being said, I want to address whatever concerns you may have about this. Quinn, would you like to start?"

Quinn rolled her eyes and remained silent.

"Quinley," Steve said firmly, "your mother asked you a question."

Quinley looked up at her father sympathetically and then glared at her mother. "How can you expect Daddy to care for your sick ex-boyfriend?"

"Quinley," Steve said, grabbing Laura's hand, "I love your mother with all of my heart, and this is important to her. I'm not saying he's my favorite houseguest, by any means, but he's sick, and I wanna help him."

"But, Daddy," Quinn continued, tearing up, "what if they fall in love again? You couldn't survive that!"

Stephanie sat up straighter, now very upset. "Mama's gonna fall in love with somebody else?" she asked, beginning to cry.

Samuel, too, became concerned. "Are you two getting a divorce?"

"This is the first step!" Quinn continued.

"A divorce?" Stephanie wailed.

"No!" Laura said quickly. "No, no, no, no." Laura looked at Steve for help, but he offered none, looking forward to hearing her deny that possibility completely. Laura read the challenge in his eyes and continued. "No," she said softly, looking right at him. "That could never happen," she continued, looking back at the kids. "Guys, I love your father more than anything in the world, except for you three. Stefan was exciting, I guess, in my twenties. He was handsome and charming and liked to do a lot of the same things I did, but he wasn't the right guy for me, and that hasn't changed. I don't want the guy I used to go clubbing with every weekend, when he was actually in the states, which was rare. I want the guy that makes me laugh just sitting at home on the couch. I want the guy who wakes up early on a random Tuesday to buy me flowers at the grocery store, not the guy who buys me an expensive, designer purse because he's been out of the country for four weeks. I want to be with the father of my children for the rest of my life, not with the what-if guy," she finished.

"But, Mom, what if you fall in love again?" Quinn asked seriously.

"That's not gonna happen, Baby," she replied immediately.

"You don't know that!" Quinn yelled.

"Yes, I do," Laura said firmly and softly, trying to keep the conversation cool. "I'm not in that place anymore. He doesn't have the same power over me he might've had when your father and I first got married. Your father and I have built a life together. There is nothing that can compete with that. Nothing could make me want to start over again. Your father and I are in it for the long haul."

"Do you still find him attractive?" Quinn challenged.

Laura paused for a moment, wanting to give an honest answer. "Yes," she said after thinking about it. "It would honestly be a problem if I didn't. He looks so much like your dad, but attraction doesn't mean that anything's gonna happen."

"Maybe not, but it means it could!" Quinn continued.

"Princess," Steve interrupted, "I trust your mother. You have to, too."

Quinley frowned and looked down at her feet. "I do trust you, Mom. I just… Daddy needs you so much more than you need him. I don't want him to get hurt."

Laura looked at Steve. "Sweetheart, I haven't lived without your father's love and support since I was five years old. Don't underestimate how much I need him."

Quinley nodded. That was a good point. "It just makes me uncomfortable, Mom. You know Daddy would do anything for you, and I'd hate for his willingness to sacrifice for you to lead to you leaving him. It's just, you have all the power."

Steve chimed in again. "Princess, I appreciate the protectiveness, but again, we have to trust your mom. Quinley, you can always tell when we're fighting. Are we fighting?"

"No," she admitted.

"Then just trust me for now. You'll know if something's up," Laura insisted.

Quinley nodded. "Ok. Fine." She still looked away uncomfortably.

"Any other questions?" Steve prompted as Laura looked longingly at their daughter who still seemed to be upset with her.

"You keep saying he's sick," Sam began. "What's he have? Is it contagious?"

"No, Baby," Laura answered. "It's not contagious."

"What is it then?" he continued.

Laura and Steve glanced at each other. They were dealing with Urkels. They wouldn't rest until they solved the mystery, so they silently decided to tell them, so they could control the narrative. Laura took a deep breath. "Stefan is a drug addict. After I decided to marry your father, he moved to L.A. where he tried drugs. He quickly became addicted, which is why you should never do drugs, and he hasn't been able to stop. We're taking him in so we can pay for a rehab program and hold him to it," Laura explained.

Quinley silently fumed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why would he do drugs, Mom?" Stephanie asked softly, made uncomfortable by this new information.

"He was sad, Honey, after we broke up. He was lonely. He thought they would make him happy, but he was very, very wrong about that."

"What kind of drugs?" Sam asked.

"We don't need to get into specifics," Laura corrected.

"Yeah, we do," he argued. "Withdrawal is different for different drugs, and so is addiction."

"You three don't need to know. All you three need to know is that he's here so we can help him. Don't make his stay here any harder than it already is, and he'll be out as soon as he's back on his feet."

"Fine," they all agreed.

"Ok," Laura smiled brightly, as if nothing were wrong. "If there are no more questions, meeting over. Lunch is in an hour."

When Stefan got home, five hours had passed. He walked in and found no one in the living room, kitchen, or dining room. He assumed the kids were hiding from him upstairs, which didn't bother him a bit. The light was on outside of the basement door, indicating that Steve was in the middle of an experiment that couldn't be interrupted. At the end of the hall, he saw Laura through the French doors that led to her office. He smiled when he saw her. She looked good. He strode confidently to the end of the hall and knocked on the glass.

Laura glanced up from her laptop. She smiled brightly and waved him in. "Hey," she grinned as he entered. "You've been gone awhile. I was beginning to worry. How was your workout?" she asked as she stood.

"Great," he purred, stepping closer to her. "But I still have energy to burn!"

"After working out for five hours?" she laughed, coming out from behind her desk and leaning against it. "You missed lunch."

"I'm not hungry… for food," he purred.

"What is with you?" she asked, sliding further away as he slid closer.

"Nothing," he spat immediately. His eyes darted around the room rapidly, finally landing back on her face, which was beginning to look angry. "I'm sorry, Baby," he began.

"Don't call me that," she corrected immediately, looking away guiltily.

"Laura, come on," he said, moving his body against hers, trapping her against the desk. "You are still so sexy."

"Stefan!" she scolded, attempting to push him away.

"We don't have to tell anyone. I just want whatever he was getting in the kitchen this morning," he purred, leaning in to kiss her.

Suddenly, Laura's knee flew into his groin. He doubled over, and she took that as an opportunity to escape, only he popped back up nearly immediately.

"Woo!" he called. "You've always been feisty."

Laura quickly touched the intercom behind her. "Steve! Upstairs! Now!" she ordered before walking out of the office, followed quickly by Stefan.

"Hey. Why'd you do that? He'll ruin our fun," he said, grabbing her butt.

"Stefan!" Laura scolded loudly, shocked and appalled that he would grope her like that. He had never even behaved like that when they were a couple.

Steve came up from his lab, his lab coat covered in scorch marks, to find Laura and Stefan facing off in the living room. "What's going on here?" Steve asked.

"I think he's high!" Laura exclaimed. "Or he better be!"

Stefan giggled loudly. "C'mon, Baby? You think calling Dr. Dweeb into the room is gonna make me stop chasing after you?"

Steve stepped forward and moved closer to Laura. She gladly got behind him. "I thought you were here to get clean," Steve scolded.

"Yeah, well, I was," Stefan said, sniffling and wiping his nose, "until I walked in on you getting head from the love of my life this morning." He stepped closer to Steve who stepped closer to him to get their impending fight further away from Laura.

"I'm sorry you had to see that, Stefan. That would have killed me if the situation were reversed, but you knew what you'd be getting if you stayed with us."

"Yeah, well, I didn't know you'd turned Laura into such a skank," Stefan spat, before bursting into a fit of giggles.

Laura felt tears sting her eyes as she tried not to take that personally, but it was hard coming from a man she had almost married. She snapped out of it the moment she saw Steve pull his fist back. She grabbed his arm. "No, Steve. Don't you dare," she growled in his ear.

Steve took a deep breath to control himself. "Stefan, you need to go to your room for a while and sober up or go out and sober up. You just need to get away from here and not speak to my wife or my kids again until you're well."

"Who's gonna make me?" Stefan threatened, pushing Steve's chest just past gently. "You?" He began laughing maniacally again.

Steve looked back at Laura, and she shook her head curtly. He was still not allowed to hit him.

"Chicago PD," a voice yelled at the front door, banging on it hard.

Laura and Steve exchanged a nervous glance.

"I'll get it!" Stefan announced, running toward the door and opening it wide before anyone could stop him. "Hey, E-Man!"

"It's actually Lieutenant Winslow now," Eddie corrected. "Laura, Steve, I'm coming in!" He shouted as he walked in the door.

"Eddie, what are you doin' here?" Laura asked, nervous about the police arriving when there may or may not have been drugs in her house.

"Quinn called me and said there was a disturbance. Dad mentioned Stefan was here and explained his situation." He turned to face Stefan. "So, I assume you're the disturbance."

Laura looked at Steve. "Quinn called you?"

Stefan looked at Eddie for a long moment, and then he made the mistake of trying to bolt. He was out the open door in seconds flat, only to be immediately tackled by Eddie's partner. Eddie rolled his eyes and walked outside. "We're taking you in for a drug test, man."Stefan continued struggling as he was hauled into the police car. Eddie turned to Laura and Steve, now standing on the front porch, both completely horrified, and said, "When he sobers up, y'all can come down and pay his bail, or better yet, leave the junkie where he belongs and take care of your own damn lives." With that, he sat back in the car, and he drove off.

Laura suddenly burst into tears.

"Hey," Steve said softly, pulling her into his arms. "Hey, hey, hey. Laura, shhh… Don't do that." He rubbed her back gently as she buried her face in his neck. She wrapped her arms around him and gripped his loose dress shirt in her hands, squeezing tightly as she fell apart.

Finally, she looked up at him as her tears slowed. "I'm so sorry, Steve," she sniffled. "I'm so, so, so sorry."

He reached his hands up to her face to wipe her tears. "Stop. This isn't your fault," he assured her as he stroked her cheek.

"My dad was right. We can't do this. I can't do this to you and the kids," she sobbed.

"Laura, if you don't wanna do this anymore, we don't have to, but don't give up for me. Not even for the kids. I'll take care of the kids. I'll make sure they're ok. If you still wanna help him, we'll help," he insisted.

"I can't ask you to do that," she whined.

"You're not asking. I'm offering. If you need to relieve your guilt, we can do this."

"It's so much harder than I thought it would be. I thought he wanted to get clean."

"He's an addict, Laura. He hasn't even started his program yet. This is gonna be hard for a while. It'll get easier. He'll get better."

"He grabbed my butt," Laura admitted.

Steve's face grew deeply angry. "Thank you for telling me," he grumbled.

"I didn't want him t-""

"I know," he said quickly. "I know that, Sweetheart. You don't have to defend yourself. I trust you. I'm mad at him. Not you."

"Thank you," she whispered, nuzzling into his neck.

"Do you still wanna do this, Laura?" he asked gently.

"Yes," she admitted guiltily.

"Ok," he said, kissing the top of her head. "Then I'll go bail him out. You stay with the kids and talk to Quinley." He pulled away from her and moved to the door. He stepped just inside to slip off his lab coat and grab his keys.

"No," Laura interrupted. "I'll go get him. You can stay here with the kids and talk to Quinn. She'd rather hear from you anyway."

Steve froze and turned to Laura. "Laura, you can't possibly think I'd let you be alone with him right now, and that's not a statement about you, Sweetheart."

Laura pursed her lips. She nodded eventually. He had a point. "Ok, but I do want you to talk to Quinn one-on-one later. I think she really needs to hear that you're ok with this without me being there to pressure you."

"I can do that. I'll go pick him up. I'll call Betty Ford while I'm waiting at the precinct. Then I'll come home and talk to Quinley. Ok?"

Laura nodded again, hugging herself gently. "Yeah. Ok."

Steve stepped toward her and pulled her body against him. She slowly unfurled from herself and wrapped her arms around him. He leaned down and kissed her lovingly on the lips. "Everything's gonna be ok, Laura Lee. I promise. I'll take care of you and the kids… and Stefan. I'll take care of everything. Trust me."

Laura looked up at him with so much love and admiration in her eyes. He only had a few inches on her, but in moments like this, when she was falling apart, and he was the only thing holding the pieces together, she was always baffled by what a big, big man he was. So much bigger than her. With the biggest heart in the world. "I love you," she whispered.

He smiled softly, grateful to hear it on such a hard day. "I love you too, Laura, with every fiber of my being. I would be nothing without you and our family."

"Is 'ditto' too stupid of a response to something so sweet?" she asked with a soft chuckle.

Steve laughed and snorted. "Yes," he said firmly.

"Ok. Then how about, 'I feel exactly the same way'?"

"That's a little better," he nodded. He stared at her for a long moment, but they turned when they heard footsteps behind them.

"Is he gone?" Quinn asked nervously.

Laura and Steve exchanged a glance. Steve pulled away from Laura and walked over to Quinley. He placed his hand on her head and pulled her forward to kiss her forehead. "Be nice to Mom, please. She's had a rough day," he whispered, looking down at her seriously. He turned away immediately and went back to Laura. He kissed her sweetly. "I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you."

"I love you too," she said seriously, trying her hardest to convey how deeply she felt that as he went off to do something as ridiculous as bail out her ex.

He smiled reassuringly and walked out the door, closing it firmly behind him.

Laura turned to Quinn, her stomach twisting with guilt and fear as she had to face her eldest daughter and tell her what she was going to continue to put the family through.

"Is he gone?" Quinn asked again.

"Uncle Eddie took him in, but um…" She hesitated, rubbing the back of her neck nervously as she stepped into Quinn, who still stood on the last step. "Daddy's going to bail him out."

Quinn's face fell. "Mom," she said, seriously concerned and way past petty. "He sexually assaulted you."

Laura looked immediately horrified. "N-n-no. He d-didn't. What? What are you talking about?"

"He grabbed your ass!" Quinn exclaimed.

"Language!" Laura scolded.

"That's not the point," Quinn urged.

"You saw that?" Laura asked weakly.

"God, Mom. What if some guy had touched me like that? Would you just let it go?"

Laura's brow furrowed. "Honey, he didn't…?"

"No," she replied firmly. "No, of course not, but if you even have to ask that question, he shouldn't be staying with us!"

Laura looked down at her feet. "I know how this looks, Quinn. I do, and I'm glad you called the police when you did, but… this isn't who he is. He's sick, Baby. He's such an amazing man who never deserved what I did to him. I've talked to you about how I fell in love with your dad while I was still with Stefan. It wasn't fair to him, Honey, and I broke him. The least I can do is put him back together twenty years later."

Quinn looked away as her eyes filled with tears. "Mom, I was really scared when I heard you yelling and running from him. Then when I peeked over the banister and saw him grab you…. you may have hurt him, but this isn't your fault, and you certainly don't deserve to be treated that way. Nobody does."

Laura hugged Quinn suddenly and tightly. "I'm so sorry you were scared. I'm so, so sorry you had to see any of that. Tell me to send him away, and he's gone."

"Send him-"

"No. Not yet. When he comes back, and you see what he goes through when we get him off that stuff, if after that, you still want him gone, he's gone. I promise."

Quinn pulled away slightly and looked up at her. "Ok," she agreed eventually.

"He's a good guy, Quinn. You'll grow to like him if you give him a chance."

"No, Mom. I'll-I'll give him tonight, like you said, and maybe I'll feel bad enough after that to let this go, but I'm not gonna give him a chance… to make me like him. Daddy… Daddy doesn't deserve that."

Laura nodded and stepped back. "Yeah. You're right. I understand."

"Just… Be careful, Mom. The way you fell for Daddy was hard for him, too. Don't make him relive it."

"I won't, Quinn. Thank you," she said seriously, sincerely grateful to have a maturing daughter with such a strong character and so much emotional intelligence.

"You're welcome. Let me know when he gets back, I guess?"

Laura nodded. "Yeah. Will do."

Then Quinley turned and retreated quickly up the stairs.

When Steve got to the police station, Eddie was back out on patrol, and Carl, being Police Commissioner, never had to work weekends anymore, so he avoided a follow-up lecture on the dangers of bailing out junkies. He paid the money for Stefan's bail but still had to wait a couple of hours before he was brought out to him. It was evident from his first glance that Stefan had come down. Hard. "Hey," Steve said.

"Hey," Stefan replied.

And that was all they said before Steve led him out to the car and began to drive. About halfway home, Steve made a sharp turn and changed paths. Stefan didn't know the route well enough to question him. That is, until he started to recognize the high, wooded area. "Isn't this the way to Paradise Bluff?" Stefan asked eventually. Steve said nothing but sped up the car. "Yo, I don't really feel that way about you, Man," Stefan chuckled weakly. Steve remained silent.

They reached the top of the bluff, and Steve got out of the car. He walked over to Stefan's door and opened it for him. "Get out."

Stefan looked up at him nervously. "No way," he refused.

"Why not?" Steve demanded, annoyed.

"Because I don't really wanna be pushed off a cliff today?" Stefan exclaimed.

Steve rolled his eyes. "I'm not gonna… Oh. Never mind!" He reached a hand in and unbuckled his seatbelt quickly. Then he yanked him out.

Stefan was shocked by his strength. "Hey, Steve! Stop!" Stefan complained, pulling away from him.

Steve shut the car door and approached him. He drew his fist back and punched him hard in the jaw before he even saw it coming.

"Ow!" he yelled. "Steve! What the fuck? Jesus!" He moved his hand up to his chin as he fought to regain his balance.

"You touched her!" Steve shouted. "I warned you that if you touched her, I'd kill you!"

"So you are gonna push me off the cliff?" he demanded.

"No!" Steve cried, grabbing him by the shirt collar and dragging him closer. "But I am gonna hit you until I don't want to anymore!" He punched him again.

"Ah!" Stefan pushed back on him hard, but after years of drug abuse, he wasn't as strong as he used to be, and Steve had always tried to stay fit for Laura.

"You touched my wife!" Steve yelled again, punching him for the third time.

"Unh!"

"My wife!" he screamed again as he tackled him and hit him. "My wife! Mine! She's mine!" he declared as he hit him again and again.

Finally, Stefan had had enough. He summoned all of his strength and punched Steve in the gut.

"Oof!" Steve winced as he rolled over onto the ground.

Stefan climbed on top of him and punched his nose. "She was mine first!" he punched his face again. "You stole her!"

Steve roared loudly in pain and knocked Stefan off of him. "You didn't deserve her!" he argued, kicking Stefan in the gut as he stood. "You didn't love her right. You were never there for her!"

Stefan forced himself to stand and charged at Steve. "I was trying to make something of myself! For her!" he argued as they wrestled each other back to the ground.

"You were not! You were trying to find yourself!" Steve spat as he pinned him to the ground. "In Paris, you were trying to find your purpose, your place in the world as your own person. You found modeling, and you went for it! Despite the fact it meant you couldn't give her the time she deserved."

"You're saying it's my fault?" he demanded.

"No!" Steve cried. "I'm saying it's not Laura's. Laura has felt guilty for years about how things ended with you. Then you showed up and told her about how badly you screwed up your life, just piling on the guilt, but it's not her fault. Clearly, your place wasn't with her, so I'm not gonna let you continue to make her hate herself for finding someone who would stay by her side for the rest of her life! You two weren't meant to be together, or you would've made it. This isn't her fault," Steve finished as he rolled off of him and sat at his side.

Stefan sat up and looked at him. "I loved her, Steve. I didn't deserve to be cheated on and lied to and led on…"

"She was young. We were all young. None of us really knew what we were doing to each other," Steve lamented.

"She broke my heart," Stefan complained.

"I know."

"This morning, when I forgot my gym bag and walked in on you pantsless… I wanted to rip your dick off. Just the thought of you and her… So I went out and went to the gym, but I didn't even make it through the sign-up. I was so antsy. I drove straight to my dealer. He was at his niece's baptism," Stefan laughed, disgusted with himself.

"Gee," Steve replied disenchantedly.

"And I spent all of the money Laura gave me this morning on coke. I'll pay you back," he promised as a side note. "If I ever get a job again, and I did a lot of it. Then I was so high I left the rest of it - an expensive chunk of it - on the steps of the church."

Steve pursed his lips and nodded. "Some nun is gonna have a really weird day."

Stefan laughed. "Yeah." He remained silent for a long moment. "I'm sorry about groping Laura," he said eventually. "Not to you. I kinda hate you, and if she threw herself at me tomorrow, I wouldn't even hesitate."

"Wouldn't expect you to," Steve shrugged.

"But I'm sorry to her. I feel… awful. Physically, I feel like death, but emotionally, I somehow feel so much worse." He paused again. "You know that's the first time I ever touched her butt? All the years we were together, she never let me, and I never pushed her, and now, whenever I think about her butt, which I think about a lot, I'm always gonna think about this. That the first time I touched her there was against her will. Jesus."

Steve seethed slightly through that monologue, but he kept his cool. "You have to get this thing under control, Stefan. To keep staying in our house, and for your own good."

"The programs help. Really. They do. They'll get me off on the right foot, and you guys'll keep me on track this time. I hope."

"You can't relapse every time Laura's a little affectionate with me."

"I know. I won't. I shouldn't've tried the gym at that point. I should've gone to a meeting."

"So next time, go!"

"I will. I promise."

Steve sat in silence for a long moment. "We should get back," he said eventually, standing and offering his hand to help Stefan up.

"So you're done beating the crap out of me?" he asked, surprised to find he was nervous to hear the answer.

"Yeah. For now," Steve shrugged as he walked back to the car. He got in and buckled his seatbelt.

"You've got a mean right hook. You know that?" Stefan chuckled as Steve turned the car around.

When they finally got home, Laura was worried sick. She rushed to the door as soon as she heard Steve's key in the lock. She gasped in horror when she saw their bruised, bloody faces. "Oh, God! What happened? Did you guys get jumped?"

Steve and Stefan shared a nervous glance. They both knew she wasn't going to like the real answer.

"We got into a little kerfuffle," Steve admitted, "with each other."

"You _what_?" she gasped again. Laura turned viciously toward Stefan. "Get out of my house!" she ordered immediately.

"What?" Stefan replied, sincerely surprised by that extreme reaction.

"You don't get to attack my husband and then stay on my sympathetic side, Stefan! No matter how high you are!" she barked. "Get out and never come back!"

"Laura, no!" Steve urged quickly. "No, Sweetheart, I started it. He was just… defending himself," he admitted in embarrassment. Laura looked back at Steve, and her evident disappointment pierced his very heart.

She turned back to Stefan. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I just assumed…"

"It's ok," he shrugged. There was a long moment of silence. "So I can stay?"

"Yeah, of course." She stepped toward him and slipped her arm in his. "Come upstairs with me. Lemme get you cleaned up," she suggested gently. As they stepped forward toward the stairs, Steve followed them. Laura stopped in her tracks and turned back sharply. "No," she spat ferociously. "I'll deal with you later, Rambo!"

Steve relented without question, not wanting to make things any worse for himself. As soon as he heard the door to their bedroom close, he headed upstairs to a different bathroom.

Laura slipped into the master bedroom with Stefan. She closed the door behind them, but she didn't lock it, just in case things got ugly like they had earlier in the day.

Stefan froze as he stepped into the bedroom that Laura shared with Steve for the first time. He looked around, absorbing every detail. It was huge, like the rest of the house, but it had a feeling of intimacy throughout. The walls were a deep, velvety purple which matched the silky bedspread. The hardwood floors were a warm cherry color. The room sat at an angle that felt cozier than it would've otherwise. There was a marble fireplace facing the bed. The lighting was dim and romantic, or it was until Laura turned up the switch. The candles strategically placed around the room, however, maintained that lovenest feeling, lit or not. Stefan couldn't remove his eyes from their shared bed.

Laura let him pause for a short moment, but then she pushed forward. She walked back to the bathroom and turned on the lights. She had pulled out everything in their medicine cabinet by the time he walked in.

Changing rooms didn't help him much, however. Their shower had two separate heads, he noticed immediately, and the tub was more than big enough for two.

Laura dampened a washcloth and turned back to him. She unbuttoned his shirt first thing as he watched her intently. She slipped it off his shoulders and set it on the counter, leaving him in his undershirt. She raised the damp, cool cloth to his face and began to dab off the blood. "I can't believe he did this," she said. "He hasn't hit someone over me in ages."

Stefan knew that he could use this as an opportunity to create a wedge in their marriage that he could pick at for months, but he didn't. "I deserved it, Laura, after the way I acted today."

Laura ran the cloth under water again. "No, you didn't. You slipped up. It happens. You have a disease," she said as firmly as possible.

"I groped you, Laura," he said seriously. "If you were my wife and someone did that to you… I got off easy."

Lara looked away at the direct mention of their earlier encounter. "Yeah, well, you may have deserved the first punch but not the next twenty," she complained, growing angrier with Steve as she saw how much blood she was wiping off his face.

"Laura," Stefan said, grabbing the rag from her hands and holding it in his so she would stop long enough for him to apologize. "I'm so sorry."

"You have a disease," she said again.

"That's no excuse. I'm sorry."

"Stefan, it's ok. If you had a brain tumor and did something like that, I wouldn't even think twice before forgiving you. This is no different."

"I caused this, Laura."

"And some people smoke and never go to the doctor and cause their own brain tumors. It's a disease," she insisted firmly. She set her washcloth down and pulled a dry one out of the drawer. She poured rubbing alcohol on it. "This may sting," she warned as she began to press it to the cuts on his face.

"Anh!" he winced.

Laura pouted at him as she saw him in pain again. "I'm gonna kill that man," she mumbled under her breath.

And Stefan let it go this time, because he had tried to defend Steve like Steve had defended Stefan earlier, but she just wasn't buying it.

Steve slipped into Quinley's bathroom through the guest bedroom she shared with it, hoping to avoid all three kids, but definitely wanting to steer clear the youngest two with his face torn up. His mission to avoid Quinley lasted about thirty seconds. He stepped into the bathroom at the same moment she did.

"Wah!" she yelled, having not expected a large man to be at the other end of the bathroom. She relaxed slightly when she saw it was Steve, but then when she really looked at him, her face fell immediately. "Oh, God, Daddy… Did he do that to you?" she asked barely above a whisper. She reached out and cupped his face.

Steve pulled back slightly and pulled out a washcloth. He ran it under cold water and dabbed at the cuts on his face, hoping he would look a little less scary with a little less blood on him. "I started it, Princess."

"That doesn't matter. Look how badly he hurt you!"

"I hurt him worse," Steve assured her firmly. Quinley stared up at him in horror, still clearly seeing only what she wanted to in this situation. Her father was a saint, and this new guy was a monster. Steve noticed the look on her face and patted the counter. "Hop up, Bunny Rabbit," he instructed. She did as she was told. He sat on the lip of the bathtub behind him. "I messed up today, Quinley. Bad."

"Daddy," she began.

"No. No, Sweetheart. Lemme explain. When I picked Stefan up, I was furious with him, and I wanted to make sure he was more careful in the future, so I took him to Paradise Bluff."

"That old makeout spot from the fifties?" she asked.

"The nineties," Steve corrected, taking offense. She smirked back at him sneakily, and he realized she had been kidding. "Oh," he chuckled. "Anyway, I figured it would be deserted, and it was, so I pulled him out of the car and started yelling and beating him up. I must've landed fifteen punches before he finally hit me back. I got what I had coming."

"So did he," she insisted.

Steve nodded. "He did… and a little extra."

"Mom told me that she'd kick him out if I told her after tonight that I wanted her to. She thinks seeing what he's going through is going to make me more sympathetic to him or something, but it's his own fault!"

"Quinley, it's a disease," Steve said firmly.

"So? He gave it to himself!"

"That's no reason to endorse someone else's suffering," Steve countered.

"What about your suffering?"

"I'm fine, Princess. I'm doing better than your mom," he countered.

"Oh, I think she's pretty happy with her situation right now," Quinn grumbled.

"What do you mean?" Steve asked as he stood and began to dab rubbing alcohol on his cuts, sensing this conversation was going off the rails.

"Isn't this what she always wanted? To have both of you?" Quinley accused.

Steve's stomach twisted like it was a towel he was trying to ring out. "That's not true, Quinley," he said quietly and unconvincingly.

"I'm gonna tell her he has to go," she said firmly, "for the sake of your marriage."

As Steve finished with his face, he slammed the first aid kit shut. "No, you are not," he said firmly. "You are gonna show this man a little compassion, and you are gonna learn to trust your parents. We are adults, Quinley, and I know that you're at that part of your teenage years when you think you know everything, but you don't. Your mother may have made you that offer, but I didn't, and I'm not gonna let you do this to her. She needs to fix this, Quinley, or it'll kill her! And she'll resent me for it. If you're worried about our marriage, the way to protect it is to get your mom past her guilt."

Quinley stared at him for a long time in shock. Then, very quickly and abruptly, she turned and walked back into her room, slamming the bathroom door behind her.

Steve knew she couldn't lock the door in that direction, but he didn't want to barge in. He knocked on it softly. "Princess?" he cooed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"Go away, Dad," she urged, her voice clearly shaking with tears.

Steve frowned. She was always really upset when he was "Dad" instead of "Daddy". "Can I come in, Sweetpea?"

"No."

Steve, never having been subtle, barged in anyway.

"Dad!" she whined, quickly wiping her tears and turning to face the wall as she lay on her bed.

Steve climbed into bed beside her, clumsily pushing her over. Still, she tried to ignore him. "I'm sorry, Princess. There are just so many emotions at play here. Mom and I just really need you to let us deal with this."

"I was just trying to help you," she complained.

"I know," he said, squeezing her shoulder affectionately, "and I appreciate that, but you have a tendency to… favor me over your mom, so I don't think you're really seeing the full picture."

She rolled over to face him again. "Well, you have a tendency to favor Mom over yourself."

"As I should. She's my wife."

"That doesn't mean you can't ever put your own needs first!"

"Yeah, it does," he said firmly.

"Mom never puts you first," Quinley argued.

"Yes, she does. You're just a teenager and therefore, completely blind to all the good your mom does."

"That's not true," she complained, laying on her back and looking up at the little, glowing, plastic stars on her ceiling. Steve had made sure they placed them in real constellations.

"When your mom saw us walk in tonight, she immediately tried to throw Stefan out, thinking he'd attacked me. She only stopped because I told her I started it."

"He still hit you," Quinley complained.

"In self-defense," Steve stressed again. "Your mom is only doing this because she really needs to. Otherwise, she wouldn't do this to any of us."

Laura managed to avoid Steve for the rest of the evening, playing nurse to Stefan all night as he suffered from his wounds and withdrawal, but by eleven, she had to go to bed, and she didn't want to do that in the other guest bedroom. She said goodnight to Stefan and walked back to the master bedroom. Steve was already in bed, reading up on addiction again. "Hey," she said softly as she shut the door behind her.

"Hey," he replied as she walked straight back to the bathroom and shut the door behind her. She never did that while she went through her lengthy, nightly routine of skin, hair, and dental care. Steve set his iPad down and waited less than patiently for her to return. When she finally did, she went straight for the walk-in closet. She was careful to close that door behind her too, making sure he didn't get a free show when she was so angry. Finally, wearing a relatively innocent nightgown and robe, she climbed into bed beside him. They both leaned against the headboard in an upright position, knowing they had a long talk ahead of them before they could sleep.

Laura was the first to speak. She stared at his bruised, cut, bandaged face, and said softly, "I am so disappointed in you."

_Ouch_. Steve visibly winced at that remark. She _had to_ use the d-word. He knew he had little hope, but he had to try to explain himself. "I'm sorry, Laura. I really, really am. If I could undo it, I probably would, but he touched you. Intimately. Without your permission. I needed him to know that that's never ok."

"Oh, sure, and since you're five and haven't learned how to use your big boy words yet, beating him silly was the way to do that," she said sarcastically.

"Laura, I was really mad!"

"That's no excuse!"

"You were mad at him too!"

"No! Excuse!" she said again.

"Oh, I know that," he grumbled. "You think I don't know that? I'm very embarrassed that I decided to beat up a man with a very serious problem today rather than dealing with it logically. I'm very embarrassed that you know about it. I'm completely and utterly ashamed of myself! I'm not proud of this! This isn't the first couple years of our marriage when I thought that I had to physically fend off your suitors to keep you safe and keep you mine. I'm 41 years old. I know way, way better than that, but I lost it today. I'm sorry, Laura. He came into my house with my kids and my wife high. He came onto you. High. He groped you. High. He got arrested in front of my home, in front of our kids and maybe our neighbors - which by the way, he looks a lot like me, and we need to tell our neighbors about my junkie twin brother before they think the patriarch of the only Black family in the neighborhood is himself a junkie - and then I had to spend the money we earn for our family bailing him out. I lost it. I'm sorry. I just lost my damn mind today."

Laura stared at him for a long moment. "You're really ashamed?" she asked gently.

"Yes," he assured her, looking down at his bandaged knuckles. "For God's sake, you're going to bed with a caveman tonight. I'm mortified."

Laura slid slightly closer to him and leaned her head on his shoulder. "I don't know. I kinda like the idea of going to bed with a caveman."

Steve lifted his head as his eyebrows perked up. "Oh, really?" he purred, looking down at her.

Laura smiled softly. She leaned up and kissed him gently. "I love you," she said firmly, "and if you're really sorry, then I forgive you."

Steve's heart melted. He hadn't expected to be forgiven so quickly. "Wow," he breathed. "Usually when I hit someone, we have a way longer fight."

Laura laughed a little. "The fact that you can begin a sentence with 'Usually, when I hit someone,' should tell you that there either is or was a problem. I think this was a problem when you were younger and more insecure, but I think our marriage is way past that. This was a fluke, and you sincerely apologized for it immediately. I'm gonna let it go."

"You are an angel," he mused affectionately.

"It just better never happen again," she warned.

"It won't," he promised.

"Good. Now, c'mere, you Neanderthal," she purred, pushing him down on the bed and straddling him.

Steve grinned brightly as she leaned over him. "Are you finally gonna finish what you started this morning?" he demanded.

Laura smiled. "I never like to leave my husband with blue balls for too long," she teased.

"I have the best wife," he beamed.

"You really do," Laura agreed as she began to unbutton his shirt.

The next morning, both Laura and Steve had to get up for work, and they had to get the kids out the door for school. Their morning seemed normal, the kitchen bustling with busy Urkels trying to get ready to start the day. Then Stefan walked in, and everyone froze.

Laura was the first to speak. "Good morning, Stefan."

"Morning," he said uncomfortably.

"Can I get you some breakfast?" she offered.

"Uh…. No. Thanks. I got it."

Laura smiled at him and handed him a plate. "Ok. Well, I have to get to work, my loves," she said, walking over to the kids who were still seated at the table. "Quinn, the bus'll be here for you any minute, so you better get out there."

"I know," the teen grumbled in response. She stood and brought her bowl over to the dishwasher.

"Samuel, make sure you shower before school."

"Yeah, yeah…"

"And Steph, make sure you turn in that permission slip before you miss the deadline. I don't wanna hear you crying to me if you miss out on the science museum because you forgot to turn it in."

"I won't forget," Stephanie whined.

Wrapping up her morning nag session, Laura relaxed slightly. "Ok. Then I gotta go."

"Laura?" Stefan asked quickly.

"Yeah?" She turned to face him.

"Um. When does my program start?"

"Today," Laura grinned, knowing he'd be glad to hear it. "Steve's gonna take you on his way into work. I would, but I have a really early start today and a huge case."

"Yeah, it's fine. Don't worry about it. Good luck." He walked to the counter and began to fill his plate.

"Thank you," she smiled sincerely. "You too." She turned back to the table. She kissed Samuel and Stephanie who were still seated. She kissed Quinn as she walked by on her way out the door. Finally, she turned to find Steve. She placed both hands on his cheeks and pulled him into her. She kissed him lightly but pulled back as she heard something shatter to her left. She turned and saw that Steve, way on the other side of the kitchen, had dropped his mug. She looked at him puzzled for a long moment until her brain caught up with her eyes. She slowly and nervously turned back to the set of lips in front of her.

"Oh, my God," Stefan breathed.

"Oh, my God!" Steve exclaimed.

"Oh, my GOD!" Laura yelled. She pulled away from Stefan and moved quickly to Steve. "Oh, God, Honey, no. It was an accident! I swear!" she cried, carefully stepping through the shattered ceramic to reach him. "I am so, so, so, so sorry," she begged. "I'm just not used to having someone who looks so much like you in the house. I just saw 99% Steve Urkel and assumed it was Steve Urkel!" she rambled. She could feel herself melting into a puddle of guilt and anxiety, but she couldn't stop herself. She had messed up. Really badly.

Steve looked at her in horror for several lengthy seconds, until he couldn't stand listening to her apologize anymore. It was only an accident. He knew that. He grabbed her hands. "It's ok," he assured her, interrupting her endless explanation. "It was an accident. It's ok."

"Really?" she asked weakly, desperately needing confirmation.

"Well, I didn't like it, but yeah. It's ok. Just be more careful."

"I will be," she promised, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I love you so much," she reminded him.

"I love you too," he whispered, leaning his head in to rest against hers.

"You'll be here when I get home?"

"Yes."

"Good. I wanna kiss you hello," she grinned.

"I'd like that," he cooed.

She leaned in slowly and kissed him passionately. At this stage in their marriage, she didn't usually French him on her way out the door, but she owed him this one. Her tongue slipped deeply into his mouth. Their lips moved slowly and deliberately. She sucked gently on his bottom lip before she finally, slowly pulled away. She looked at him longingly for a moment. "I really have to go," she said eventually.

"I know," he nodded. He leaned in and kissed her again. "Have a good day. Good luck on your case!"

"Thank you!" she said as she turned. She grabbed her briefcase from the counter and kissed the two kids at the table again for good measure. "Love you!" she called to all of them as she rushed out of the room, headed for the garage door.

"Love you, too," Steve called, staring after her. Eventually, he glared at Stefan.

"You're not gonna hit me again, are you?" he asked nervously.

"No," Steve replied flatly as he bent to begin cleaning up his broken mug. "Now eat. We're leaving as soon as Steph gets on the bus."

When Stefan slipped upstairs to get dressed, Samuel slipped his backpack on his shoulders, ready to head to the end of the driveway. "Dad?" he prompted from the kitchen doorway.

Steve was cleaning up the breakfast mess when he looked up at him. "Yeah, Big Man?" he asked.

"Are you really ok with Mom kissing Stefan?" he asked nervously. A lot of his friends' parents were divorced. He didn't wanna go through the same things they did.

Steve smiled sympathetically. "It was an accident, Buddy." He looked at Stephanie, who was listening intently. "I'm fine." He paused for a moment. "Try not to tell your sister, though. She'd flip."

Samuel nodded. "Yeah, ok."

"Anything else?"

"Are you and Mom gonna get a divorce?" he asked nervously.

"No," Steve said firmly. "Never."

"Ok. I'll see you after work," Sam said, turning and heading for the door.

Steve looked at Stephanie, who still looked at him nervously. He set down the dish towel he was holding and went over to her. He leaned down and kissed her head. "What's wrong, Angel?"

She shook her head and said nothing.

Steve sat beside her and pulled her into his lap. "You have nothing to worry about. Mom and I are as happily married as we've ever been. I promise."

"If you get a divorce," Stephanie asked softly, "will we live with you or Mommy?"

Steve pursed his lips. "We're not gonna get a divorce," he said firmly.

"But if you do?"

Steve took a deep breath and sighed. "We won't, but if we did, I'm sure we'd share custody equally. You'd live with me one week, her the next. Back and forth."

"That wouldn't be so bad, I guess," she shrugged.

Steve chuckled and stood. He lifted her into his arms and squeezed her tightly. "Usually, you are so much like me, but your mother is just pouring out of you right now. She always plans for the worst." He kissed her cheek loudly. "Mwah!" He set her down.

"Scientists are always prepared," she said proudly.

"That's Boy-scouts," Steve corrected. "Scientists plan for the most likely scenario, not the worst." Steve got on his knees to be closer to her eyeline and began to list the facts on his fingers for her. "Look at the facts. 1. Your mom and I have been madly in love for twenty years. 2. Mom already chose me over Stefan once before. 3. Mom and I have built a life together we both love and could never risk losing. 4. I really do look like Stefan, so I'm sure that kiss was an accident. 5. There is nothing I couldn't forgive your mother for. We're gonna be fine," he promised. "Now, go get dressed." She nodded, hugged him tightly, and ran off to do just that.

Steve paused right in front of the Betty Ford building. "You need me to go in with you?"

"No," Stefan answered. "I think I'll manage."

"Ok. You know, they'll call me if you don't show up. I checked."

Stefan nodded. "I figured."

"Should I take a picture?" Steve joked. "We did on all the kids' first days of school."

"I think I'll pass," Stefan replied.

Steve nodded. His joke hadn't been a hit. "Yeah. Ok." Steve looked at him seriously. "Good luck, Stefan."

"Thanks," he replied, getting out of the car and heading straight for the door.

Stefan checked-in, got a tour, and went to his first 12-step meeting in ages. It was exactly as uncomfortable as he remembered. He checked his schedule after the meeting. He was due for a private therapy session, lunch, another meeting, and finally, a group therapy session. Then he'd be free to go home. Back to the house Steve had built for Laura. This was going to be his longest stint in rehab yet.

He walked down the hall until he found the private therapy waiting room. Thankfully, it didn't take them long to call his name. _Idle hands_, he supposed. He followed the doctor back into her office.

"So… Stefan," she began, glancing down at her chart. "Is it alright if I call you Stefan?"

"Yeah," he shrugged.

"Good. Welcome, Stefan. My name's Holly. I'm looking forward to taking this journey with you."

Stefan remained silent.

"I know these first few sessions can be awkward, but we at the clinic think that getting to the root of your drug abuse means diving deep into your psyche. Sure, we could just lock you up, dry you out, and send you on your way, but it wouldn't be long before you were using again. Based on the history you provided at sign-in, it seems like you've had experiences like that before."

Stefan took a deep breath and finally spoke. "Uh…. Yeah. I don't have much of a support system, so it seems whenever I finish a program, I fall back into old patterns."

Holly nodded. "Ok. What are we going to do about that this time around?"

"Well, I'm staying with an old friend this time, so I'm hoping she'll help get me through it."

"An old friend or an old girlfriend?" the doctor prodded.

"Girlfriend, but she's really just a friend now. She's been married for twenty years. She has three kids. I know the rules about dating in the beginning of the program. I know the drill."

"So just because you're not dating her, you think her very presence won't drive you to use?"

"She'd never allow it," Stefan chuckled nervously.

"She's been married for twenty years, and you've been using for 21," Holly reminded him. "You don't think there's a relationship between this ex and your drug use."

"Well, of course there's a relationship. I started using when I was on the rebound from our breakup, but she's the only person who's ever really cared about me. I can't get over this addiction without her by my side. I've tried! Many times!"

"Tell me about it. The breakup."

That evening, when Laura came home, she immediately began to search for Steve. She found him reading a book in the living room. She smiled brightly and tiptoed up to him. She paused at his side, glad he still hadn't notice her, and triple checked it was him before tapping his shoulder. "Excuse me, Sir. I'm looking for Steve Urkel."

Steve smiled and closed his book. "You found him, Toots!" he replied as he set it down on the coffee table.

"Can I see some ID?" she demanded.

Steve chuckled. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He flashed her his license.

She took the wallet out of his hands and held his license close to her face. She looked back and forth between the picture and him. "Hmm… When were you born?"

"September 25th, 1977," he answered seriously.

"And what's your address?"

"67 Laurel Rd., Winnetka, Illinois."

"Those Winnetka public schools are amazing, huh?"

Steve smirked. "They are, but my wife finds them to be way too snobby and way too white."

Laura smiled and sat on his lap. "Hi, Baby," she purred, leaning in to kiss him deeply.

"Hi," he whispered back as she slipped her tongue out of his mouth. "How'd your case go?"

"I won," she purred. "The very, very bad man is very, very much in prison."

"Congratulations, Wonder Woman," he grinned. "What did he do?"

"You don't wanna know," she said with a gentle shake of her head.

"C'mon. I'm a man. I can take it."

"Let's just say it involved a very, very young woman and rohypnol," Laura said gently.

"Yikes. I didn't wanna know that," Steve cringed.

Laura shrugged. The full story was so much worse than that.

"You're my hero. You know that?"

"Yeah," she smiled. "I do." She kissed him again. "I'm sorry about this morning."

"It was an accident," Steve reminded her dismissively.

"Steve, I haven't kissed anyone else or been kissed by anyone else since the first year we were married. I feel so… gross."

Steve smiled softly. "It's ok, Laura. I owed you a freebie anyway after my intern last year."

Laura nodded. "Yeah. That's true. I just… I'm so sorry."

Steve nodded. "I forgive you, but if you wanna make yourself feel better, you are welcome to spend a little extra time on me in bed tonight," he purred, wiggling his eyebrows.

Laura smirked. She forced a yawn. "I don't know. I'm so tired. I wasn't planning on making love to you at all tonight."

His brows knitted tightly together. "B-b-but-"

She laughed. "I'm kidding, Sweet Boy. After this morning, you should just know I'm planning to ravage you."

Steve exhaled in relief. "Phew. Good! I expect no less," he growled, squeezing her butt.

Laura jumped slightly and laughed. "I meant tonight. Not right now," she teased.

"Darn!" he exclaimed squeezing her toosh again.

She laughed again and smiled softly. "How's Stefan?"

Steve smiled back weakly. "He seems ok. He's clean at the moment, so I'm happy with him."

Laura glanced at her watch. "So that's, what? Almost 24 hours?"

"Yup," Steve agreed.

"This is going to take a while, huh?"

"Yup. You still up for it?" he asked gently.

"Yeah," Laura insisted. She looked at him seriously. "Thank you for this. You've been amazing," she whispered.

"Except for that time I beat him senseless?" Steve smirked.

Laura giggled. "Yeah, except for that," she purred, leaning closer to him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he whispered back just before her lips met his.

Their kiss didn't end until they heard footsteps at the bottom of the stairs. "Ew," Quinn said as she saw them.

They rushed apart, Laura sliding off of Steve's lap and turning to see her. "Hey, Honey," Laura said nervously. "What's up?"

"I just thought you should know that your boyfriend is sobbing really loudly. I can hear it through the bathroom I share with your boyfriend."

Laura rolled her eyes. "Not funny," she scolded.

"Ok, but he's really crying," Quinn shrugged.

Laura looked at Steve with concern. "Do you-?"

"No," he replied. "No. I have no idea. He seemed fine when I picked him up."

Laura nodded, looking away toward the stairs. "Ok. I'm gonna go talk to him. Could you start dinner, Hun?" she asked absentmindedly as she began to walk away.

"Of course," Steve replied as he stood.

Laura gently touched Quinley's shoulder as she walked by. "Thanks for telling me, Baby."

As soon as Laura was out of sight, Quinley looked to Steve challengingly. When he didn't yield, she rolled her eyes and headed back upstairs.

Laura knocked gently on the door to the guest room. "Stefan?" she prompted when he didn't answer. Still nothing. She turned the handle gently, glad it was unlocked. She ducked her head inside. "Stefan?" No sight of him. Concluding he was in the bathroom, she stepped inside and shut the door gently behind her. She approached the closed bathroom door and finally heard the sobs. She knocked softly. "Stefan? Are you ok?"

She heard rustling in the bathroom as he struggled to stand up. Finally, he sniffled loudly as he reached the door. He opened it slowly. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said, almost convincingly.

She cocked her head at him. "Then why were you crying?"

He blushed and looked down at his feet. He wasn't as smooth as he'd hoped he'd be. He stepped out of the bathroom and walked over to his bed. He sat on the edge of it and looked up at her, expecting her to sit beside him, but she knew better than to sit on a bed with her ex. When she didn't move, he eventually gave in. "Today was just my first day back in therapy, and it opened up some wounds. That's all."

Laura looked away. "Wounds that I caused," she confirmed.

"Yeah, and then some that came after you, but yeah. Mostly you. We talked a lot about the day you told me you had chosen Steve. Remember?"

"It's burned in my brain," she nodded firmly.

**July of 1998**

Steve laughed and snorted before leaning down to kiss her softly on the lips.  
She smiled up at him as he pulled away, but then she pulled out of his arms. "Um. Steve?"  
"Yes, my pet?" he asked in concern. "What's the matter?"  
"Well, now that the dust is clearing and your tongue is no longer down my throat, I just remembered. There's someone else I need to tell before we can just go around announcing this," she said uncomfortably.  
"Who's that?" he asked.  
Laura looked away from him. "I have to go see Stefan, Steve," she said.  
Steve's heart started to pound. This was when it was all going to fall apart. He could feel it. She was going to go over to Stefan's apartment. She was going to look into his eyes. She was going to hear all his charming lines, and she was going to melt for him just like she always did. "Can't you just call him?" he asked nervously.  
Laura looked back at Steve. She understood why he was worried, but she couldn't do that to Stefan. "He deserves better than that, Steve," she answered firmly.  
"Can I come with you?" he asked, already knowing the answer.  
"No," she said. "I need to do this right. After everything I've put him through over the last few months, I owe him that much."  
Steve swallowed hard. "What about what you've put me through?" he asked softly.  
Laura looked away again and nodded. "I know. I know this has been tough on you, too, but…" She looked back at him. "I chose you, Steve. As soon as I get back, I will be all yours for the rest of our lives, but right now, I need to pay a little respect to the longest romantic relationship I've ever had."  
"Laura," Steve asked, trembling slightly, "what if you change your mind?"  
"I won't," she promised, pulling him quickly back into her arms. She hugged him tightly and waited for his shaking arms to hug her back. When he eventually did, she felt like she was in a vice. "I promise I won't. I want to be your wife, Steve. As soon as I said it, I knew it was the right decision. Nothing's gonna change my mind," she whispered in his ear.  
"I love you so much, Laura," he whispered back. "I need you."  
"You have me," she promised. She pulled away from him slightly so she could look into his eyes. "We're getting married," she smiled.  
He smiled back.  
She kissed him passionately, hoping to convince him that she meant every word. When she finally pulled away, she struggled to escape from his arms. She grabbed her car keys out of her backpack and headed toward the door. "I'll be home as soon as I can," she said firmly. "I love you," she called as she slipped out.  
Before Steve knew it, she was gone. He didn't even have time to respond. He walked to the front door and opened it. He watched her car pulling out of the driveway and down the street. These were going to be the longest moments of his life. When she was completely out of view, he sat back on the couch. He waited there for hours in stoic silence.

When Laura arrived at Stefan's apartment door, still wearing her peach sweater and sweats, she paused and took off her ring. She slipped it into her purse. She hated to take it off, but she wanted to be the one to tell Stefan. She didn't want a piece of jewelry to do it for her. She took a deep breath and knocked softly. The door opened almost immediately.  
"Bonsoir, ma chérie," Stefan purred as he pulled her immediately into his arms and kissed her deeply.  
Laura's eyes widened. She hadn't even thought about that. Of course, he would kiss her. He always kissed her hello, but she was engaged to Steve now. She couldn't kiss him back, but if she pushed him away, she wouldn't get a chance to say everything she needed to say. She stood there dumbfounded as his tongue slipped out of her mouth.  
"What's wrong?" he asked.  
She was speechless. She had practiced what she was going to say to him ten times on the drive over, but now that the time had come, she couldn't find the words. "Nothing," she lied, smiling brightly. "Nothing at all," she repeated, moving closer to him.  
He smiled slyly as she put his mind at ease. Now, that was more like it. He knew she'd come back to the world of the sane eventually. "Would you like to come in?" he asked, opening the door wider for her.  
_No_, Laura thought to herself. _Don't be an idiot. Tell him the truth and go home to your fiancé!_ she ordered herself. If only her mouth had listened! "Sure!" she said cheerily, stepping inside as he stepped out of the way. She walked immediately over to the couch but then paused before sitting. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to chat somewhere so… comfortable.  
Suddenly, Stefan was behind her. "Have a seat, Baby," he purred in her ear. "I'll go grab us some champagne so you can tell me the good news."  
Then he was gone, and Laura couldn't explain it to herself or anyone else, but she didn't stop him from grabbing champagne. She didn't stop herself from sitting back on his couch where they had spent so many, many hours making out.  
When he returned, he smiled confidently at her and popped the cork out of the bottle. He poured two glasses and took them both in his hands. As he handed her her glass, he sat beside her, closer than she would have thought possible. Feeling nervous, she chugged the champagne immediately. She was still only twenty, and she should have known better, especially because she had to drive home, but she couldn't do this until she relaxed, and she wasn't quite sure how to do that.  
He looked at her oddly. "Oh, no, Princess," he explained. "We were supposed to toast first." He took her glass and refilled it. He handed it back to her as he wrapped an arm around her. "So, you've come all this way. I guess that means you've made a decision," he pressed, wasting no time. He couldn't wait to hear her finally confirm that she was going to be all his again for the rest of their lives. He had been as patient as possible over the past few months as she explored her options with Steve, but Stefan knew it was time for her to make a decision so they could start their life together. Laura nodded, indicating that she had made a decision, but she didn't speak. Stefan stared at her. "Would you care to enlighten me?" he asked.  
Laura looked away from him in discomfort. "Stefan," she said eventually, her voice breaking.  
As Stefan heard the tone in her voice, his heart began to race. His face grew more serious. "Yes, Laura?" he pressed, when she didn't continue.  
"I'm going to marry Steve," she said as quickly as possible, though not very tactfully.  
Stefan's jaw dropped. "That's not funny, Laura," he breathed eventually, pulling his arm away from her and setting his glass down.  
"It's not a joke, Stefan," she said, setting hers down as well and sliding away from him.  
"It has to be," he said firmly. "You're telling me that you'd rather marry Steve Urkel, than me? That's gotta be a joke."  
Laura looked away from him. She knew he would lash out, and she was willing to sit there and let him. She deserved every word, no matter how awful. "I love you both very much," she said, "but he needs me."  
Stefan looked at her seriously. "What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, "That I don't? I need you, Laura. You're all I have."  
Laura shook her head. "You'll be fine without me. He needs me," she repeated.  
"Well, damn it, Laura! What do you need?" he said, standing to look down at her. "Do you need a man who embarrasses you in public and can't hold down a job?"  
Laura stood. "Stefan," she scolded, "you can say whatever you want about me. I know I've treated you horribly over the last few months, but you don't get to talk about Steve like that. You literally wouldn't exist without him."  
"So what?" he shouted. "He stole the only reason I have to exist. Laura, I don't have a family like Steve does. I just have you."  
Laura shook her head, "Steve's family is… emotionally abusive. You can have them. All Steve has is me and my family. You have your modeling career. You have your friends. You have every girl in the world chasing after you," she said bitterly. "You have everything, Stefan."  
"Not if I don't have you," he said, sitting down again.  
"Well, maybe one guy isn't supposed to have everything," she said softly as she sat beside him. "I never wanted to hurt you, Stefan."  
"Well, you did," he said, wiping the tears that were beginning to trail down his cheeks.  
"I'm so sorry," she whispered as her feelings stole her voice, too. "I'm so, so, so sorry," she sniffled.  
"What about you, Baby?" he asked, grabbing her hand. "You never answered me before. What do you need? He can't give you what you need."  
Laura pulled her hand away and looked away from him. "We shouldn't get into that, Stefan."  
"Why not?"  
"Because you don't want to hear my answer," she said.  
"Yes, I do," he said.  
"He is exactly what I need. I don't need money or clothes or any of those shallow things that I know he can't give me right now. He gives me so much more than that."  
"What does he give you that I can't?" Stefan argued.  
Laura took a deep breath. "Unconditional love."  
"I love you unconditionally!" he yelled.  
"Do you?" she asked. "Or do you love me for who I am when I'm with you?"  
"What do you mean? You're _you_ when you're with me."  
"No, I'm not," she said. "At least, I hope not. I don't like the person I am when I'm with you, Stefan, or I don't like her as much as I like who I am when I'm with Steve. I'd like to think that the real me is the one that I like."  
"How could you say that?"  
"I'm sorry, Stefan, but it's true. When I'm with you, I'm jealous, shallow, ditzy," she listed with a shake of her head.  
"No, you're not," he said, rubbing his hands against his face.  
"I am," she said firmly. "With him, I'm confident and relaxed. He makes me feel at the very same time that I am the greatest creature to ever walk on this Earth and that there's nothing I can do to disappoint him."  
"And I don't make you feel that way?" he asked in disbelief.  
"No," she admitted. She glanced up to him and placed a hand on his knee. "And maybe that's not your fault. Maybe you feel the same way. Maybe I just can't feel it from you."  
"Why not?!" he barked.  
Laura shrugged softly, taking her hand back. "I don't know."  
Stefan shook his head. "I can make you feel it, Laura," he said softly. He leaned toward her, and she pulled back.  
"Stefan, wai–" she tried to say before his lips pressed firmly against hers. Laura placed a hand on his chest as if to push him away, but soon, his passion overwhelmed her, and she began to kiss him back. It was the best kiss she'd had from him in a long time, and she felt every nerve in her body tingle, ready to explode. His tongue slipped into her mouth, and his hands gripped her hips firmly. He pulled her closer to him. He released her lips and moved immediately to nibble on her neck in her favorite spot.  
"Oh, Stefan," she moaned. Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she realized what was happening. She pushed firmly on his chest to get some space, and she stood. "That's enough, Stefan. What the hell is wrong with you? I came here and told you that I'm engaged, so you jump me?"  
"Was that not the best kiss of your life?" he argued.  
"No, Stefan, it wasn't!" she yelled. "It wasn't! My best kiss was with Steve! I wanted to tell you all of this quickly and painlessly, but if you're going to insist on fighting about it, then let's fight about it. My best kiss was with Steve."  
"That's not possible, Laura," he yelled back.  
"I know how it sounds, ok? I know what I'm choosing here. I know I'm choosing a life where I have to explain myself to everyone I know and everyone I meet. I know people are going to make fun of me for being with him. I know there are going to be guys who get angry and aggressive, like you are now, because they think they're better than him, but God, Stefan, I wouldn't be choosing all that if he weren't the love of my life." She shook her head and looked away from him. "I'm sorry, Stefan, but he's the one. I think that's why I love you so much, because you were so close to perfect."  
"Steve is perfect?" he asked in disbelief.  
"Perfect for me," she answered. "I wish I could've figured that out without having to put you through Hell. I'm so sorry." They sat in silence for a moment, but eventually, Laura realized she'd done what she needed to do. "Look, I think it's best if we don't see each other for a while."  
"Fine," he said.  
"I'm gonna grab all the stuff I have lying around here."  
"Ok."  
"Then I can just pack your stuff up and mail it to you, I guess."  
"No," he said firmly. "I don't want to forget anything. I never want to see you again, Laura. Not as long as you're with him."  
That felt like a knife through Laura's gut. Never again? She knew she couldn't have both of them, but "never" sounded like a really long time.  
"I'll meet you at the house when we're done here, and we can get my stuff."  
"Steve's at the house," Laura said uncomfortably.  
"Believe it or not, Laura, it's much harder for me to look at you now than him," Stefan said, walking back to his bedroom.

"You remember how you said that Steve needed you more than I did?"

"Yeah," Laura said softly.

"Well, look where we ended up. Could you have been any more wrong than that?"

Laura's brow furrowed.

"Steve's a billionaire, and I'm a drug addict," Stefan laughed bitterly.

Laura pursed her lips. "He's not… We're not billionaires. We're certainly… well-off, but we're not anywhere near that bad. Plus, you know, we donate a lot."

"My point is, Laura, that he didn't need you. My life is in shambles because I don't have you, and he has all this!"

"That's not entirely fair," Laura argued. "We built this life together. We don't know where he would have ended up without me!"

"C'mon, Laura. Do you honestly believe that without you Steve would have been in my position? He may have been unhappy, but he still would have been rich!"

Laura paused and thought about that for a moment. She knew that her income was nearly negligible compared to Steve's. Her work was important in the grand scheme of the world, but it wasn't well compensated. He was the one who had made them this wealthy. She was important in other ways. She made him happy. She gave him children. She was a wonderful mother. She satisfied him sexually. She made sure their household ran with minimal Urkel chaos. If anything, however, she drew him away from his work. She made sure he took time to care for himself, his family, and his wife even when he was losing himself in a big project. If anything, he may have been richer without her. He certainly would have spent less without having to spoil her and the kids.

"I lived in homeless shelters for two years before I broke and came to you for help. Steve never would have been homeless, gone hungry, done drugs… I needed you more, Laura."

Laura didn't even know what to say. As she felt tears come to her eyes, she walked quickly toward the door. "Excuse me," she mumbled. She rushed to the master bedroom and closed the door tightly behind her. She threw herself down on the bed as the tears became unstoppable.

Only a few minutes later, Steve walked in with a huge stain on his shirt, muttering to himself. "Stupid… Clumsy…" He stopped in his tracks when he saw Laura. Laura sat up when he entered, but the makeup running down her face was a huge giveaway, no matter how quickly she wiped her tears. "What did he do?" Steve demanded immediately.

"Nothing," Laura dismissed, shaking her head. She tried to hold back her tears. "Did you spill something, Baby?" she cooed, standing from the bed. She moved to the other side of the room and walked into their closet.

"Laura, what happened?" Steve implored, giving her one more chance.

She pulled a sweater out of a drawer for him. "Nothing," she said softly. "I told you that." She walked over to him and hung the sweater over her arm. She began to unbutton him, hoping that the act of undressing him may distract him.

"No, Laura," Steve scolded, pushing her hands away firmly. "That's not how we're gonna do this."

"What?"

"Your ex is not gonna live in my house if you're gonna lie to me."

"_Our_ house," she corrected firmly.

He ignored it. "Don't lie to me, Laura. I won't let him stay here if you do."

Laura looked away guiltily. As much as she wanted to fight him on that, she knew she had no leg to stand on. It was never right for her to lie to him. Lying to him in this situation was just like pouring salt in a wound. She handed him the sweater, which he accepted gently as he realized she had given in. "It was no big deal. He didn't _do _anything. We just talked, and he kinda twisted the knife of guilt in my gut. That's all."

Steve unbuttoned his stained shirt as she spoke and tossed it into the laundry chute. He slipped the sweater over his head. "Let's sit down," he suggested, leading her over to their bed. He sat at the foot of it and waited for her to do the same. "What exactly did you talk about?"

"He started therapy today," Laura began, "and apparently, they talked a lot about the day we broke up."

Steve nodded, waiting for her to continue.

"That was so hard to explain to him. I told him that I loved you both, because I did, at the time, but that you needed me more, because at the time, I thought you did, but now-"

"Wait a minute," Steve interrupted, raising his palm to her. "You married me because I needed you more? Out of pity?"

"Well, no, but at the time, I had such a hard time justifying what I put you both through, and that made it easier. I chose you because I loved you and you needed me."

Steve was baffled. "What happened to, 'I can't imagine my life without you?'" he demanded.

Laura began to feel uneasy as his tone changed. She wasn't explaining this well. "I couldn't! I can't!"

"But you could've if I hadn't been so desperate to have you in my life?"

"That's not what I'm saying," she cried, flustered.

"Laura, would you have chosen me if I hadn't said I was moving to Russia?"

"Steve," she gasped.

"No, really," he pressed. "If you could've had us both, Stefan the hubby and Steve your dorky sidekick, is that what you would've chosen?"

"Of course not! I didn't say that! I'm not saying that! I love you, Steve!" she insisted, trying to wrap him in her arms as he wiggled away.

"Laura, I think you need to take some time and figure out exactly what you're trying to say and how you wanna say it because I can't breathe at the thought of you choosing me simply because I needed you more. I _did _need you more! I don't care what twisted tale he's telling you, I guarantee my life would've been worse than his without you, but if you didn't choose me because you loved me more and because you wanted to spend your life not just with me in it but with me as your husband… If that has not always been your truth, I don't even know what we've been doing for the last twenty years."

"Steve," she sniffled again.

He looked away. He hated to see her cry. "Dinner will be in twenty. I expect to see you there, with a demeanor that won't freak out the kids. We can try talking again after," he grumbled just before storming out of the room and slamming the door behind him.

Twenty minutes later, Laura heard Steve's voice on the intercom and made her way downstairs. She looked at him shyly as he filled the six plates in front of him. When he noticed her, he looked up. His eyes weren't overflowing with love, as they usually were, but with pain. He quickly looked away and began carrying plates to the kids chattering at the table. Laura grabbed her and Steve's plates from the counter and sat down next to an empty chair. She set his plate down in front of it, hoping he'd sit next to her. Instead, he grabbed the last plate from the counter and sat next to Quinley, kitty-corner from Laura, leaving the seat next to Laura open for Stefan.

Quinley noticed the change immediately and glared between them. "What's going on? What are you two fighting about?"

"Nothing," they said in unison.

"Yes, you are! Is this Stefan's fault? Did something happen?"

"Mommy kissed him!" Stephanie announced, proud to know something her older sister didn't.

"WHAT?" Quinley screeched, leaping out of her seat.

"No," Laura said quickly. "It's not what it sounds like!"

"Well, good! Because what it sounds like is you cheating on Daddy!"

"No, Quinley," Steve interrupted. "That was just an accident. We talked it out. Mom and I are fighting, but it's more like Stefan adjacent than Stefan's fault. We're fighting about something your mom said when we were 20. It's an old fight. We'll figure it out."

"What did you say?" she demanded, looking at Laura.

"Quinn," Laura scolded, "this is between your father and me. Just drop it."

"No!"

"Quinn, DROP IT!" Laura ordered, leaving no room for argument.

"B-"

"Go to your room! Now!" Laura insisted.

Steve raised an eyebrow at Laura as Quinn stormed off. "You sure that was the best move?"

Laura looked back at him and pouted. "Well, no! Of course not! But this is all hard enough without her adding to the stress," Laura said as she began to cry.

Steve frowned at her. He sighed deeply. "Kids, could you all go eat upstairs? Take your sister her plate, too?"

"Yeah," Samuel nodded, grabbing his plate and Quinn's. He paused sympathetically in front of Laura as she tried and failed to stop crying. "Love you, Mom."

Laura wiped her tears and looked up at her sweet boy. "I love you, too, Baby," she sniffled, grabbing him by both chubby cheeks and kissing him on the forehead. He smiled softly and followed his baby sister upstairs. When they were out of sight, Laura turned back to Steve. "Steve, about what I said tonight…"

Steve shifted to the chair beside her. He kissed her cheek and wrapped an arm around her. "It doesn't matter now. What matters now is how you feel about me today. Are you with me because I need you or because you want me?"

"Because _I _need _you_," Laura replied without hesitation. "Steve, I needed you then, too. I just didn't know it. I knew that I wanted you and that I loved you and that I didn't want to you to move to Russia. I also knew that you needed me, Steve. It wasn't the only reason that I chose you, but it was a reason. It mattered to me that you needed me. I wanted you to have me after all those years because I knew that you'd never be happy without me as your wife, but I thought Stefan would be. I chose you, but I thought he'd be ok. I don't regret choosing you, Steve. Our life is amazing, and you make me happier than I ever thought a man could, but part of me wonders if you would've been ok if I'd taken care of Stefan's heart instead of yours all these years."

Steve shook his head at her. "As much as I wish you weren't wondering about that… at all, I have something that I think you need to see. Ummm… I probably should've told you a long time ago, but I didn't want you to worry. I haven't even thought about it in years, until recently, and even then, I haven't thought about doing it since that day, just telling you," he rambled.

"Doing what? What day?" Laura asked, gravely concerned. "What are you talking about?"

Steve took a deep breath and swallowed hard. "Maybe you should just come see," he said eventually.

She nodded and stood when he did. He led her up the stairs and into their bedroom. He was careful to lock the door behind her. He grabbed her hand as he walked into their walk-in closet. He opened the hidden door behind Laura's large collection of shoes and brought her up to the attic. They only ever seemed to go up there to get or put away holiday decorations. Steve let go of her hand at the top of the narrow stairway. He moved several boxes to get back to a specific corner of the room. He pulled one old, raggedy box out from the wall and opened the flaps, revealing a large collection of plaid shirts, tight pants, and suspenders. Laura watched in confusion as he began to rifle through his old clothes. Finally, he pulled out a folded, yellowed envelope. He stood and handed it to her.

"What is this?" She asked.

Steve looked down at his feet. "I wrote that the day we got engaged, before I packed for Russia. I think you should just read it."

Laura nodded and walked back down into their bedroom, staring nervously at her name and her parents' address scrawled on the envelope. There was no return address. She sat on the bed and opened the seal for the first time. She looked up at Steve as he sat beside her. "Any hints?" she joked uncomfortably as she pulled out the folded letter.

Steve shook his head.

Laura took a deep breath and unfolded the letter. She began to read very carefully.

"_My dearest, Laura Lee,_

_If you're reading this, I guess I finally made a decision. I want you to know that this wasn't your fault. Living without you has simply been unbearable, so I have taken my own life._"

Laura reread the last sentence and looked up, ignoring the rest of the letter. "What the _hell_ is this, Steve?" she demanded urgently, her heart pounding in her chest.

"I think you should read the whole thing before-"

"Is this a suicide note?" she cried, standing from the bed and waving the letter in front of his face.

"Yes," he admitted softly.

"No!" she spat. "No! You don't get to tell me twenty years into our marriage that you're a suicide risk!"

"I'm not anymore, Laura!" he implored. "I promise. I'm not. I haven't even considered it since that day."

Laura looked away from him. This had completely rattled her. "How could you have ever considered it?" she asked softly.

"I think you should read the letter," he said gently, patting the bed beside him.

"I don't want to," she whimpered as tears began to drip down her cheeks.

"If you want to understand this… to understand me, you have to read it."

She sat beside him and held the letter up again. She read it aloud this time, wanting to be sure he knew where she was and what it was doing to her.

"_My dearest, Laura Lee,_

_If you're reading this, I guess I finally made a decision. I want you to know that this wasn't your fault. Living without you has simply been unbearable, so I have taken my own life. I'm sorry to have to tell you this way, or to tell you at all, but I'm going to ask you to remember me when I leave for Russia, and remembering me means remembering this._

_Growing up with you made me the man that I am. Everything you loved about me only existed in me because I knew what it felt like to truly love another person. I was blessed to have known that feeling. Then, when I eventually knew your love in return, I knew what it was like to feel true happiness. I never knew just how miserable I had been until you started to fall for me. The months we spent together were the best of my life. I lived for your smiles, your touches, and oh, Lord! Your kisses. The night I proposed to you, I had such tunnel vision. All I saw was you and me watching the sunset together on our balcony someday and you in a hospital bed holding our baby and holding you in front of the fireplace as we watched our rugrats opening presents on Christmas morning and oh, the kisses! I just saw eighty more years of your kisses!_

_But I didn't see what I'd be taking away from you. I'd be taking Stefan away from you, taking away the opportunity to be married to a wealthy, handsome male model. I'd be taking away your chance to live in Italy or France, your chance to party with some of the richest, coolest people in the world. I'd be taking away the beautiful, charismatic babies you'd have with him. I don't want to take any of that away from you, Laura. You may be the only thing in this life that I need, but I'm the last thing you need._

_So that left me with only two options: I could leave you, or I could end my life. Either way, I knew I couldn't stay and force you to either hurt me more than you could ever stand to do or will yourself to choose me, even though we both know you deserve better. You have always deserved better._

_So I decided to leave you. I've packed my bags. I'm just trying to get up the nerve to tell you that I'm going. As of right now, I'm writing this so that I have it. I haven't decided whether or not I plan to use it. On the one hand, I'm a chicken, and I don't know that I have the strength it would take to take the next step. On the other hand, the thought of living a day of my life without you in it makes me want to jump out the window right now. If only this were a higher floor._

_But if you're reading this, I must've made a decision. I must have come to the conclusion that nothing could be scarier or more painful than my future without you._

_Laura, I want you to be happy. I couldn't be happy without you, but you can be. I know that getting this letter will make you sad for a while, but you'll get over it. If you want to do anything for me, be happy. That's all I want. For you to be happy. Live your perfect life with your perfect husband and perfect kids. Make sure he gives you everything you've ever wanted._

_Laura Lee, I have always loved you. Even before I knew you, I loved you, so trust me when I write that you were my very last thought with my very last breath. I'm sure, wherever I am now, I'm still thinking only of you._

_I will always love you, Laura Lee Winslow._

_All my love,_

_Steven Quincy Urkel_

_P.S._

_Please, remember me._"

Laura looked up at Steve with tears streaming down her face. "How could you do this to me?" she asked desperately.

"I didn't do it, Laura," he pressed. "You and your love and my love for you saved me from this."

"How could you even have thought about it?" she demanded. "Getting this letter would've destroyed me, Steve."

"I know," he said softly.

"No. Obviously, you don't know, or you never could've written this," she sobbed. "This letter would have killed me. It would've put out every possible light in my life. You killing yourself… over me… would've broken me beyond repair."

"I know," he said again. "I realized that. When I told you I was leaving for Russia, and you cried the way you did, I knew you couldn't handle losing me to something like this. I wasn't gonna do it. Even before you decided to marry me. I was willing to go to Russia and live out a long, miserable life so that you would never have to know the pain you'd know if you ever received this letter. I never, ever wanted you to read this letter."

"Then why now?" she asked.

"Because you needed to know. I don't know what Stefan said to you exactly, but I wouldn't have been just fine without you. He did _not_ need you more. _Nobody_ needed you more than me, and as much as I hate the thought that that played any role in the decision you made, you saved me Laura. You saved me from suicide. You saved me from living out the rest of my days wishing for death, too in love with you to just end it all if it meant hurting you. You saved me from a miserable existence far worse than any day he has ever seen, and don't you dare tell me otherwise. Don't you ever tell me that I don't or didn't need you. I can't breathe without you. I wouldn't want to."

Laura set the letter down on the nightstand and curled into herself. She wrapped her arms around her stomach and hugged herself tightly. "What if I leave you tomorrow? Are you gonna kill yourself?" she asked, her voice straining, the feeling tearing her up inside.

"Are you gonna leave me?" he asked breathlessly, his stomach twisting in fear.

"I asked you first," she said firmly.

Steve looked away from her. "No, Laura. I would stick around… if only for the kids. You divorcing me is kind of my idea of hell, but I couldn't hurt myself if it meant leaving you and the kids with that burden. The kids are enough for me. They could be worth living for." He took a deep breath before asking, "Are you thinking about leaving me?"

"Of course not," she answered immediately. "I just needed to know. You would never do this anymore, right?" she pressed. "There's no situation in which you would even consider hurting yourself, is there?"

Steve shrugged uncomfortably. "I guess if I lost you and the kids somehow? God forbid. Then Carl and Harriette might have to lock me up."

"If we lost the kids, I'd be in the loony bin with you," she said in all seriousness. She looked at the letter again for a moment. "Steve, maybe you should see a psychiatrist for a few weeks. Really talk all this out."

He shook his head. "I have talked this out. I told you, I haven't thought about this in years."

"That's repressing. That's not talking," she said. "You need to talk to an actual person about this."

"I did, Laura. I told your father almost twenty years ago. A couple months after we got married. He and I have talked about it a lot over the years. I'm ok now. I'm past this."

Laura met his eyes again, deeply hurt. "You told my dad, and you never told me?" she demanded.

Steve blushed. "Well, it's not like I had planned to tell him, but when he and I were fighting early on in our marriage, it slipped out when I was trying to make a point about how much I love you. I regretted it right after I said it, but it was too late to take it back, and he wouldn't let it go, so we talked about it a lot."

"Why didn't you tell me, Steve?" she asked, deeply hurt by this betrayal. It would've been one thing if it had been his deepest, darkest secret that nobody knew, but being second on the list just seemed unacceptable to her.

"Because I never wanted you to be with me because I need you. As long as you didn't know, I thought it was certain you were with me because you wanted to be. I guess I gave off some vibes or something, because I was wrong about that, huh?"

"No, I want to be with you, Steve. You know I do."

"I know," he said eventually, "but, Laura, you can't begin to imagine how this feels for me. Twenty-_FIVE_ years ago, I would've happily let you marry me out of pity, but when we got married _twenty_ years ago, I didn't think that that's what was happening. Now, I thought we were so far past that… I just can't believe what I heard you say today."

"But, Steve, this letter just proves that you _do_ need me. I was right about that."

"Of course, I need you! Have I not made that clear? Laura, you are my rock and my softest place. You are the person I go to first for love, comfort, support, encouragement, and everything I need. You fuel me. The kids give me a reason to live, but you make it possible. I need you more than you could ever know, but I don't want you to be with me because of that. I want to be the same thing for you."

"You are!" Laura stressed. "You absolutely are!"

"Then where is all this talk coming from? That maybe Stefan needed you more? So what if he did need you more? Which he absolutely does not! But if he did, would that make you regret the choices you made? Would you have been able to live without me in your life?"

Laura paused for a long moment. She wanted to be completely truthful with him. "I could've lived without you," she said eventually.

"Ouch," he exhaled.

"Steve, the normal response is yes. Yes, I could've lived without you, but I wouldn't've been this happy. I wouldn't've written a note like this. Stefan and I would've gotten married and had a family, and I probably would've been happy, but not like this, Steve. No one could've made me as happy as you have."

"Laura, how is it that after twenty years, you still don't feel the way I do?"

Laura's heart ripped in half. "Oh, _Steve_…" she whimpered.

Steve swallowed hard and shook his head. "Look, it doesn't matter. What matters is that you love me, and we're married, and it's gonna stay that way for the rest of our lives, right?"

"Of course," she promised.

"Then let's just put all this behind us," he suggested.

"No," Laura said. "No, we can't leave it like this. Steve, I need you. Just like you need me. You are all those things to me, too. Just because losing you wouldn't make me suicidal, doesn't mean I don't love you the way you love me!"

"Doesn't it?"

"No, Steve! It means I'm healthier than you! It means that something is really wrong with you!"

Steve's brow furrowed in pain. "Just what a guy wants to hear from his wife of twenty years," he mused.

"I'm sorry. That was harsh," she admitted, "but this terrifies me, Steve. You need professional help, not a few good chats with my dad."

"Laura, I'm fine. I promise you, I'm fine," he said firmly.

Laura looked away. "I do love you, Steve," she said softly. "I love you more than I've ever loved another man. More than I ever imagined I could love a man. I may not love you exactly the same way you love me, but that doesn't mean I love you less."

He shrugged. "If you can live without me…"

"Steve, take a minute and think about every time I almost lost you, and there have been plenty over the years. Did I seem indifferent about it?"

"No, of course not," he admitted.

"Because losing you would've destroyed me. Losing you now would destroy me. I'm not gonna hurt myself. I would never do that, but you can be damn sure that I would be seeking professional help if I lost you. I could live without you, but I would never, ever, _ever _want to. I still can't imagine my life without you."

"But you have been lately? Haven't you? Haven't you been running through the What-ifs?" he probed gently.

"Yeah," she agreed. "My mind definitely has a case of time traveling wanderlust at the moment, but whenever I try to picture what my life would've been like with him, I can't make it work. I don't have the kids. I don't live near Chicago, near my family. I'm not an ADA in Chicago. I didn't go to school in Chicago. I don't have my best friend." She paused for a moment and grabbed his hand, landing heavily on that note. "I meant what I said, Steve. I can't imagine my life without you. The life I've been picturing with him is the life of a stranger. It feels so foreign and wrong. It's a life that I thought I wanted a long, long, long time ago, but I was wrong. I've been wrong so many times about you. You have to believe me when I tell you that I was wrong about us back then. You need me, and I need you, and I don't give a damn what he needs. We need each other, and you and me and the kids are the only people in the world who matter to me."

Steve leaned into her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He rested his face in the crook of her neck as he held her. "I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too," she replied gently, relaxing slightly as he did.

"I love you more."

"No, you don't," she insisted, hugging him back tightly. She felt him softly smile against her neck. "Steve, I know I have no right to ask you for a favor right now, but I need you to do something for me."

"Anything," he promised.

"I need you to go see a psychiatrist."

"Laura…" he complained, pulling away from her.

"Please?" she begged. "Just once? Just for my own peace of mind?"

"Laura, this is all so far behind me."

"Then waste an hour of your life for me. Please?" she begged. "I really can't imagine my life without you."

"Ok," he shrugged. "If it'll make you feel better."

"It will," she promised.

"But until then…. Are we ok?"

Laura looked at him for a long moment. "I don't know," she sighed. "Did I finally explain myself well enough?"

"Yeah, I think so. You love me, and you need me, and you want to be with me, but you love me so much that it's still very important to you what I need and that I need you so badly."

Laura sighed in relief. "Exactly. Why couldn't I have just said it like that?" She leaned her head against his shoulder. "Do you still think I don't feel the way you do?"

Steve placed his arm around her and began to rub her arm on her other side. "Laura, I think you love me as much as you possibly can."

"Steve!"

"No, wait. I think you love me as much as you possibly can, which may be as much as a healthy person can." Steve paused for a long moment. "I promise that this is a non-issue now," he said, gesturing toward the letter, "but you're still so much more normal than me. The fact is, Laura, I love you unconditionally. I don't care how you treat me. I will always love you. I don't want you to feel that way about me. I want you to love me because I treat you well, which I always will."

Laura thought for a moment and nodded. "You're right, but there is a part of me that loves you like that."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Steve, if you ever cheated on me, for example, I couldn't forgive that, but there's a part of me that would want to. There's a part of me that would always love you, that would wanna stay with you, but that wouldn't mean it's the right decision."

"You know I would never-"

"I know. It was just an example."

"I kinda like the idea that there's a little, teeny part of you that's as desperate as I am."

Laura smiled softly. "And you know? It's ok that your love for me is so all consuming because I don't take advantage of that… At least, not since we've been married. I think, overall, I've been a pretty good wife, right?"

"The best wife," he corrected.

"So then we're fine. We're in love, we treat each other well, and no one is ever going to come between us."

"And you and I are going to be together until we're old and wrinkly. Then we'll die on the same day!"

Laura rolled her eyes. "Of natural causes," she added firmly.

"Of course!" he agreed immediately.

"You still have to go see someone," she insisted.

"I will," he promised.

"Thank you," she purred, leaning in to kiss him gently. She pulled back and stared at him for a moment. "I owe Quinn a huge apology," she said eventually.

He nodded. "I'll go talk to the other two. Tell them we're ok."

"Good idea," she agreed, standing up. She looked down at him for a moment.

"I'm fine, Sweetums. I promise," he stressed again.

She nodded. "Ok. I love you."

"I love you, too," he smiled, standing up. He leaned down slightly to kiss her forehead. "Go make nice with Quinley."

Laura smirked and walked toward the door. "I don't know that that's an option right now. I'm just hoping to make 'doesn't completely hate me' with Quinn right now."

Steve laughed and snorted. "Good luck," he chirped, turning the other way down the hall to get to the two younger kids.

Laura took a deep breath and forced herself to walk with purpose to Quinn's room. She knocked firmly but didn't call to her, fearing she'd be rejected.

"Go away, Daddy!" she called. "I don't wanna talk right now."

Laura pursed her lips and stood up straighter. "It's not Daddy, Sweetheart. Can I come in?"

"Definitely not," she replied. She quickly got off the bed and locked the door before her mother pulled her signature move and barged right in after being told to go away. "Go away," she said again.

Laura leaned her back against the door. "I'm not going anywhere, Quinn. I'll have this conversation with you through the door if I have to."

Quinn rolled her eyes and walked over to her phone. She made a few selections and connected to her Bluetooth speakers.

"I owe you an apology," Laura admitted just before Quinn hit play.

Quinn paused for a moment and set her phone down. She huffed over to the door, unlocked it, and opened it.

"Thank you," Laura said as she rushed inside and shut the door behind her.

"That's not an apology," Quinn grumbled, flopping back down on her bed and playing with her phone.

"I know," Laura said. She sat on the edge of Quinn's bed. "I'm so sorry, Baby. I never should've yelled at you the way I did. Stefan said something that got into my head before dinner which got into your dad's head, so when you gave me a hard time, I just snapped."

"What did he say?" Quinn asked.

Laura pursed her lips and took a deep breath. She wanted to be more open and honest with Quinn about everything that was going on. That was the only way she believed she could rally support, but she had to be careful, because she knew she could never reveal Steve's secret to the kids. "When Stefan and I broke up, I told him that one of the reasons was that your dad needed me more. Stefan talked about that in therapy today, and he came to the conclusion that that wasn't true because your father has done so well. It made me worry that I had made a selfish choice instead of the right choice, and when I expressed that feeling to Dad, I stuck my foot really far in my mouth."

"What else is new?" she said with an eye roll.

Laura pursed her lips. There were very few people in the world that saw her as the one who was always screwing up her relationship with Steve. In fact, Quinn may have been the only one. "So anyway, after talking to Stefan and fighting with your dad, when you came after me, I took a lot of emotion out on you, and I know that was wrong. I'm so sorry. I want us to be ok, Baby, and I know I've been doing a crummy job of making that clear the past few days, so I will answer any questions that you need me to. I'm gonna stay right here until you're done with this conversation."

"And you'll be totally honest? No matter what I ask?"

"Yes," Laura agreed, knowing there was one thing she had no intention, nor the right, to reveal.

"Are you and Daddy still fighting?"

"No," she replied.

"How'd you make up?"

"We talked. He… assured me that he really did need me, even more than Stefan, and I explained that him needing me was only one of many reasons that I married him."

Quinn nodded. "You kissed Stefan?"

"It was an accident," Laura insisted. "I went to kiss your father, and I turned and saw a guy who looked an awful lot like your father, and I kissed him. I pulled away and apologized profusely to Dad as soon as I realized what I'd done. It was a terrible, unfortunate accident."

"And Daddy doesn't care about that?"

"He cares," she answered. "He didn't enjoy seeing it, but he's forgiven me. He knows it wasn't on purpose."

"So Stefan's staying?"

"Yeah. For now, yeah."

"Do you still love him?" Quinn asked softly.

"What?!" Laura exclaimed.

"I'm serious," she frowned.

"No, of course not! I love your father!"

"You can love two people at once," Quinn shrugged.

"Well, I don't!" Laura replied. "Honey, how could you even ask me that?"

"Because I don't understand why you love Daddy!" she blurted suddenly. She slapped her hand to her mouth, desperately wishing she had stopped herself before that tumbled out.

Laura's brow furrowed. "What?" she gasped. Quinn had always been and clearly always would be a daddy's girl. Laura would have expected her to swear until her dying day that Laura wasn't good enough for Steve. To hear her possibly propose the opposite seemed insane. "What do you mean?"

Quinn looked away guiltily. "Look, Daddy is my hero. He's the best person I know, but he doesn't seem like the kind of guy you would pick."

"Well, Honey, you know how we fell in love. We've told you that story. I didn't think he was my type, but he was always there for me, and he loved me unconditionally, and we kissed, and I fell for him. Hard."

"I know that, but you don't like any of the weird stuff he likes."

"So?" Laura laughed slightly at the ridiculousness of this conversation.

"And you don't like how he dresses. You don't really like anything about him, but you love him?"

"I like a million things about your father, and I love even more of him. No, I don't like the food he eats or the clothes he buys or the music he plays on road trips, but those are all shallow things, Sweetheart. I like, and I love, everything about him that truly matters. The way he treats me. The way he looks at me. The way he talks to me. The way he talks about me. The way he thinks about me. The work he does. The way he fathers! Everything that counts, I like and I love. You _know_ what an amazing man your father is, but you're in such a shallow stage right now, and that's not your fault, that you can't pinpoint the things that really make him amazing yet. Your heart knows, but your head can't find them, making you think that you need to be worried about us, but listen to your heart, Quinn. Your father's name is the only one tattooed on mine," Laura promised, placing a hand over her chest.

"Literally or figuratively?" Quinn sneered.

Laura cringed. "I did promise honesty, didn't I?"

"MOM!"

"Figuratively," Laura laughed, "though your dad tried to get my name tattooed on his chest once. He passed out when he saw the needle."

Quinn laughed softly. She looked up at her mother shyly. "Isn't this hard for you?"

Laura was touched that she finally cared. "It's one of the most difficult things I've ever done in my life," she admitted. "Right under choosing between them and breaking his heart in the first place."

"So why do it?"

Laura took a deep breath and sighed, "Honey, Stefan literally wouldn't exist without me and your father. Your father would never have had reason to create the man of my dreams without me, and I certainly couldn't have created him without your father. I know it's weird, but we both feel responsible for him. I mean, when I put it that way, he's almost like our kid." She shuttered at how uncomfortable that made her.

"_Gross_," Quinn replied pointedly.

"I know, but you see what I mean, right?"

"Yeah, but… he's not your kid. You two may have been responsible for his creation, but he didn't come from… your love. He came from Daddy's insecurities and your shallowness. You know how you guys always say that we're a mix of the best parts of you? Didn't Stefan kinda come from the worst?"

Laura paused. That was certainly convincing. She made a mental note to try again to convince Quinn to go into law instead of a STEM field. "Umm… Yeah, I guess he did."

"So why bring him back into your lives?"

Laura took a deep breath and thought about it. "Because I don't think I would have this life if I'd never dated him."

"What?" Quinn asked.

"Without Stefan, I don't think I would've ever fallen for your father."

"Why not? I thought Stefan almost kept you from Daddy."

"He did, but Stefan was so different from most of the guys I'd dated. He worshipped me… _almost _the way your dad did, and you know he looks a lot like your dad. Seeing Steve Urkel wrapped up in a totally different package helped me see that what I really wanted was Steve Urkel," Laura admitted.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Laura nodded. "It wasn't just him that got me there, but yeah. I think I owe him a lot."

"Ok."

"Ok?"

"Yeah. Ok. Then we'll help him," Quinn smiled softly.

Laura reached out and hugged Quinley close. "I love you so much, Baby," she whispered.

"I love you, too," she grumbled, pushing her away. "But you need to get it together!" she scolded. "No more stupid mistakes with him or Daddy. Watch where your lips go. Watch what you say. Don't make this harder on us than it needs to be."

Laura sighed. "You're right. I've been acting like a twenty year-old again. I'm a grown-up. I should be able to juggle these men with a little more finesse this time around."

"You'd think," Quinn said, rolling her eyes.

"Don't you sass me," Laura scolded. She stood up and walked toward the door. "You and me, Quinn. We spend so much of our time trying to get other people to do what they should be doing, that sometimes we forget to check ourselves. Fair warning, Baby. Learn from my mistakes," Laura warned her as she slipped out of the room.

She sighed deeply in relief when she was on the other side of the door. She headed for the stairs, finally hoping to eat her cold dinner. She found Steve with the same idea in his head, shoveling food into his mouth over the kitchen sink. "Boy, sit down at the table," she scolded when she caught him with food falling out of his mouth.

Steve looked up at her nervously. He swallowed hard. "Yes, Dear," he agreed, heading over to the table and taking a seat.

Laura sat beside him with her plate and leaned into him. "I love you," she purred.

Steve smiled. "So all's well with Quinley?" he assumed as she appeared so relaxed.

"Yes. I explained to her what Stefan means to me, how he's important to me only because of who he was to me in the past, and I think she really got it this time. She was also feeling a little insecure about our relationship, but we talked about that a little, and I think she's as confident as ever in my ability to not screw this up, so I think we're good."

"Do you want me to double check with her later?" he asked.

"Yes, please," she agreed. "How are the other two?"

"Oh, they're fine. I told them we made up, and they're happy with that."

"We did make up, right?" Laura asked softly. "We're still good?"

Steve smiled softly at her rarely seen insecurities. "We are completely fine, my love. You're mine. I'm yours. End of story."

"This has been the craziest few days of my life. How long are we gonna be doing this?" she asked.

"Recovery never ends, Laura. God only knows when he'll be stable enough to get out on his own again."

"I know, and I'm up for it. I just… I want us to be ok while he's here. I don't want us fighting on and off the whole time," she worried.

Steve pursed his lips and nodded. "I don't want that either, Sweetheart, so what do we do about it?"

"I think we need an emergency signal. Like a code word. Then whenever I'm doing something that's making you uncomfortable, you can say it, and we can talk about it before it escalates."

"Ok," he agreed, "but only if you use it too. You've been mad at me a few times during this whole ordeal, too, my pet."

Laura nodded. "Ok. Should we give it to the kids, too?"

"I think that'd be a good idea."

"So what should our code word be?" she asked.

"How about… Russia?" he offered, smiling sarcastically at his gallows humor.

She frowned deeply and reached out to hold his hand as he kissed her.

**Obviously, there will be more episodes to come on this topic. Thank you in advance for reviewing! :)**


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